The Birds God Cares For
by Miles Straume
Summary: Keima Katsuragi is known as "The Capturing God", claiming the hearts of women in games and real life alike (although he's not happy about the real life part.) So it only makes sense when he's drawn into a world where aliens, fights, and more importantly, love are all integral to the mysterious Sekirei Plan..
1. What's Past is Prerequisite

**Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. Maybe not even the story. I'm not sure what I mean.**

The skies were blue, the clouds few and far, and the sun bright but not harsh.

"What… what are you saying?"

Our hero had an air of grace and sophistication around him, his words perfectly tailored for capturing the heart of the woman he was wooing.

"I… for a long time now.."

His actions were perfect, quick, and decisive. Had he been a knight in a far off-land, there would be no doubt he would be a hero. If he were an artist, even a mere scribble of his could become a work of art: this is how much this man poured his heart into his work.

The master of his craft, a shining figure in the world he lived in- could it be that he was even godlike? –

"I.. I LOVE YOU!"

*Ping*

"YOKKYUN IS SOOOO CUUUTTEE!~"

Ah, youth.

Keima Katsuragi was a 17-year student going through the throes of high school. But the details of the real world did not matter to him, for although his body was 3d, he had a 2d heart with pixelated blood flowing through his veins. And said heart belonged only to the video game maidens whom Keima spent most of his life attempting to conquer, playing every dating sim under the sun.

Of course, like an athlete practicing his sport over and over, or a blacksmith hammering away at his creations until he can make his perfect creation, Keima mastered the ways of the digital world, becoming well known throughout the gamer circles.

And so it is his gaming prowess which leads us to Keima Katsuragi's current whereabouts- in the city of Shin Tokyo, far from his regular homeland of Maijima City, well into the countryside.

Now, one of his hobbies was to run a gaming website, under the humble moniker of "The Capturing God". One day, among the numerous E-mails asking for the latest tips and info on games, Keima spotted a particular message inviting him to the studios of one of his favourite series, "One Leaf," where he would provide insight and thought into the making of its sequel. Since summer vacation was in full gear and travel and hotel expenses were all paid for, how could Keima not go (especially considering the fact that a tour of the city's prime spots to score games of all kinds could also be arranged?)

It's interesting to note though that One Leaf was panned by critics alike for its "poor art and cliché plot," the game managed to rank as one of Japan's top selling game for a number of weeks. The cause? This particular game had the heroine of Keima's dreams, Yotsugi Sugimoto (Yokkyun, as Keima affectionately refers her as.)

His website and persona of "The Capturing God" were actually large factors in the gaming industry, where detailed reviews and comprehensive walkthroughs could be posted merely hours after a game's release, and a single recommendation, as was now easily apparent, netted the sales of hundreds of thousands of copies within days.

So, as a gift, Keima was rewarded a few extra days at a posh hotel with room service (Keima never knew exactly how much his endorsement was worth, but it was pretty ridiculous) even after his work was done. He never asked why, but he didn't really care.

And so for the remainder of his vacation, he took to wandering the streets, buying games and playing them as he pleased.

He was more than pleased at how these events turned out. Now this- this was a vacation. No annoying mothers to bother him about the trivial act of eating, no school teachers to bash his head in for playing at school, and most importantly, no little sisters to annoy him with the act of-

"AAHH, YOOKKYUUUNN!" Keima cradled his PFP, his portable game console of choice, like a newborn baby.

"Just wait.. With 'Two Leaf' coming out, you and I shall bask in each other's warmth once more.." He delicately rubbed the piece of technology with a tender hand. Luckily, few people were around to be shocked by this act.

"Nothing the real world could do at this point could break this happiness." He sniffed.

For all the clichés and tropes Keima had played through, one would think that he would know not to say such a fate-tempting declaration.

"KKYYYYAAAA!" The ground shook.

And so Keima was hit by a flying miko.

"Ah… too high to jump from.." She mumbled.

"Oh!" She apparently noticed the ground was a lot squishier than it should've been, and hopped off of Keima. "Thanks for catching me, sir!"

*BBBZZTTTT*

"Ah! Watch out!" With uncanny speed and strength, she grabbed Keima and leapt out of the side of a massive bolt of lightning that struck the ground nearby.

"There's no use fighting!" Two women, twins by the look of it, had leapt out of nowhere, landing in front of Keima and the unknown woman, clad in, of all things, S&M leather suits. One of them, sporting a larger chest than the other, pointed at the miko.

"Come on and fight us!"

"I'm not going to fight back yet!" The miko declared, standing up and steadying herself to dodge another attack.

"You don't have a choice!" the twins had positioned themselves for another blast.

However, just as it seemed that the street they were all in would quickly turn into a battlefield, the beleaguered bystander, quiet up until then, made himself aware.

"Yo… YOKKYUN!" Keima managed to sputter out, gingerly holding his crushed PFP in his palms.

The twins had spared a glance toward him, an incredulous look on their faces. Where did he come from? Most importantly, what the hell was he talking about?

"It's.. broken.. I didn't bring extras.." Keima stood up, his face twisted into a mask of rage. An aura of blackness surrounded him, shocking both the twins and the miko.

"What's.. What's with this kid?!" The bustier twin said, stepping back slightly.

"I.. MUST AVENGE HER!"

And so Keima unleashed his indescribable fury, so powerful that it was enough to ignite a million fiery suns and to destroy a billion more.

Unfortunately, said fury was Keima flailing around with his fists and knees while screaming in a way that even kindergarteners would be ashamed of. He was actually taller than the twins (but only slightly so,) so having him in a childish outburst completely disarmed the twins.

"Hey, get off- No, I don't have any money- Hibiki, help me!" abandoning the warrior-readying-for-a-fight façade, the poor girl was at this point just warding off Keima's furious man-slaps.

Hesitantly, the younger of the two joined the fray, attempting to separate the two, but to no avail.

"Where are you touching- Hey, that hurt-Hikari, he's grabbing my hair!" The twin named Hibiki said, having reduced to simply slapping Keima back.

"This looks fun! Can Musubi join too?" the Miko named Musubi had also completely forgotten the idea of having a serious fight.

Hikari, the bustier and apparently the quicker to anger of the twins, had enough.

"GGGEEETTT OOOOOFFFF!"

Accompanying this outburst was a bolt of lightning, sending dust, smoke, and people flying alike. Soon enough, the one named Musubi had taken Keima's hand and jumped away from the scene with a burst of strength.

The twins now identified as Hikari and Hibiki merely lay on the ground, dirty and bruised.

"Your short temper got the best of you, you know.." Hibiki said while staring up at the sky, her voice notably softer than that of her angrier counterpart.

"I know, I know.." Hikari groaned.

(So!)

Musubi and Keima had landed in a tiny plaza, a fountain gently sending its streams of water unto Keima's back, face down in the tiny pool. Musubi swore she heard him crying and sobbing underwater, but once he dragged himself out, he was fine, albeit looking tired and a tad distraught.

"Sorry for getting you involved, sir.." Musubi sheepishly said. Her clothes were torn and ragged, and although her face was friendly and inviting, she looked noticeably tired.

"Don't worry about it." Keima grumbled, sitting down at the edge of the fountain.

"Ah, that's right!" Musubi realized. "I haven't introduced myself."

"They call me Musubi."

A slight pause filled the air. Ah, it really was a genuinely nice day..

"Keima Katsuragi." It was only polite manners to introduce himself as well.

And then he ran.

"Nice to meet you, too.. I guess.." Musubi had shouted back at Keima's quickly shrinking figure in the distance.

*THUMP*

Upon hearing the less-than-conspicuous sound, Keima paused.

…. He turned back to check on her, albeit hesitantly.

Musubi had suddenly collapsed in a heap.

"You.. alright?" He shuffled up to her. Upon closer instruction, her clothes were more worn out than he had thought, and her face was tinged with fatigue and the slightest hint of pain.

"Can you speak? Is anything wrong?"

Musubi's lips parted slightly, and Keima leaned in closer to hear closely.

"I'm huunngrry," Musubi wailed, conjuring up a set of puppy eyes sure to disarm the toughest of men.

============== Loading ==============

Hold on.

What the hell just happened?

Slightly dripping, Keima had taken Musubi to the nearest restaurant, although the fast-food joint they were occupying was stretching the term slightly. Musubi didn't complain, as she began devouring two large burgers, the first in a line of many other burgers awaiting their grisly fate. Keima almost felt for the person who arrived carrying the large stack of food.

But that doesn't explain what just happened.

Now, Keima realized the world will see fit to deliver a cruel punishment if you tempt fate. Fine, his fault for raising a flag.

But hold on.

_What the hell just happened?_

He didn't even make it past a minute after he said the ill-timed sentence. The story wasn't even a full page in before he encountered this woman!

"WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THIS PACING?!" Keima shrieked suddenly, sending the poor waiter tripping back in shock.

"U-uh, Sir?" The poor, average wage employee said.

"DO ALL REAL WORLD EVENTS GO LIKE THIS? IT'S RIDICULOUS! IT'S RANDOM, TOO FAST TO EVEN COMPREHEND, NOT TO MENTION THE… "

If there's one thing about Keima Katsuragi, it's that he's not just left the real world in favour of a more cartridge and disk portable form; it's that he hates regular reality with a passion.

"Reality is shit." He finishes, picking up his game and continuing on glumly.

Musubi paused in the middle of eating her meal, looking genuinely concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Everything." Keima whines. Musubi continues eating.

"Why do we always get the crazy ones?.." The poor employee mutters, shuffling away to ferry another stack of burgers to the ever-hungry Musubi.

As the overworked server went away, Keima found himself inadvertently analyzing Musubi using the cache of knowledge he had gleaned from interacting from numerous heroines and characters alike, as he did to all the mysterious women who popped into his life (which, Keima had to admit, was quite frankly, a lot.)

He focused on her clothes right off the bat, for that was the norm when Keima had to shape up someone's character. Yes, all faces are different and unique, but clothes can show someone's personality more easily. Special accessories, trademark articles of clothing, suits and outfits worn for deliberate purposes; as they say, the clothes make the man (or woman, in this case.)

Also, the hair. The heroines always had the unique, best-looking hair.

But that was mostly a preference thing, anyway.

What he thought was a miko's attire was a simple white gi and a red skirt, all tied up with a pink scarf that served as a belt. Her other pieces of clothing, currently discarded in a corner, were boots (with their fair share of use), a pair of thigh-high white stockings (Type A, a distant corner of Keima's mind remarked), and most notably, red gloves that looked like they were used for fighting.

As for the lady herself..

Well, she was slim. Definitely fit. Brown eyes, Short hair. Shorter than Keima, but not by a lot. Large chest.

This made Keima twitch ever-so-slightly.

Friendly attitude? Hyup. Crazy strength? Check. And now a particular large bust. What next, was she normally clumsy and/or air-headed? Keima was fine with this archetype, but it was a video game archetype, and Keima knew the real world contaminated the pure ideas of 2D, enough so that Musubi could be a risk to Keima's peaceful lifestyle.

Oddly enough, as Keima was busy figuring out Musubi's existence, she herself had already taken the time to try to figure out Keima's personality.

He seemed nice.

"Ah! That's 'Shooting Star Nanana,' isn't it?" Musubi chimed out of nowhere, referring to Keima's choice of game on his new PFP, obtained at the nearest game retailer with money that Keima cryptically referred to as "M funds."

This particular tidbit of knowledge started Keima; Musubi didn't honestly appear as the type of person who acquainted themselves about these things. He nodded, and was about to resume his bout of gaming before the most horrid sentence ever to grace his ears was said by the unassuming person in sitting in front in him.

"Those games are boring."

AW HELL NO.

Keima's heart skipped a beat, and if there were any outside indicators of Keima's immediate shock (aside from a 'bloop' where there should've been a 'beep',) there were none.

Musubi happily devoured her free meal for a few seconds.

"WHAT?!" Keima had shouted at the top of his lungs, jarring everybody present in the area. Keima had pointed at Musubi like a villager would point at a witch.

"VISUAL NOVELS ARE THE MASTERPIECE- NO, THE MAGNUM OPUS OF MANKIND!" Keima screamed at the top of his lungs, hands raised in the air for drastic effect. "THEY ARE CLASSIC STORIES MADE BETTER BY THE INTERACTION INPUTTED BY THE PLAYER, ENSURING A UNIQUE, LOVINGLY-CRAFTED EXPIERENCE FOR EVERY PERSON!" He slammed the table to drive the point home.

The ordinary folks were disturbed, the hearts of the few gamers there flared with passion, and Musubi paused mid-bite, leading Keima to believe that she had forgotten what she had said.

"Oh, but it's not the same!" She said voice now completely serious for the first time since the two had met. "You can't hear their voice-"

"ANIMATED CUTSCENES! " Keima had sharply shot back. "BESIDES, SOME GAMES HAVE A FAIR AMOUNT OF VOICE ACTING, AND THE BEST VOICE ACTORS PROVIDE ANGELIC VOICES TO THE CHARACTERS AND HEROINES, NOTHING COMPARED THAN ANY ORDINARY WOMAN!"

The people in the restaurant, having not moved once since the beginning of this little act, were now divided. The female half was beginning to see Keima in quite the negative light, but the male half quietly began to agree. Musubi stood up, now completely engrossed in this argument.

"Video games can never replace real people!" She declared, a simple but effective statement sending the band of females in the background into an uproar.

"OF COURSE THEY CAN!" You could see the righteous fury in his eyes, the embodiment of all that is mankind's hopes and dreams for the future powered by sheer willpower and hope rippling throughout his voice. "THEY CRY, THEY LAUGH, THEY SMILE!" Keima had now stood on the table, his hands not flailing madly, but reaching to the heavens themselves.

"THEY'RE DESIGNED TO BE MORE HUMAN THAN ANY OF US, TO HAVE STORIES THAT FILL THEIR LIVES WITH RICHNESS THAT CAN BE SHARED WITH OTHER PEOPLE IF THEY JUST REACH OUT TO GRASP THEIR HANDS AND LOOVEE!"

The men cheered out in triumph. Hell, most of them didn't even play video games, but this man spoke so highly of a higher love, that they couldn't resist joining his cause.

"YOU CAN'T HOLD A GAME!" Musubi had started yelling back, hands on her hips and her face squarely staring down Keima's intense gaze.

"YOU CAN'T KISS THEM, CARESS THEM, LET THEM FEEL YOUR HEARTBEAT!" The men, although still united, had begun to falter, and the women jumped on that moment of weakness. Keima didn't give up, however.

"YOU CAN USE BODY PILLOWS!"

Ok, yeah, that wasn't the best comeback.

The tension in the atmosphere was immediately cut by everybody imagining a comical picture of a man hugging a body pillow, a creepy look on his face and a cheery smile eternally plastered on the figure of the pillow.

And that's when a store worker had regained enough common sense to neatly chuck the two highly disruptive figures out onto the street.

Keima neatly brushed himself off, nonplussed at the fact that he almost started a revolution, and turned towards Musubi, who was now, of all things, laughing. It was as light and bubbly as her personality, and was refreshing to hear after such a heated debate.

"Keima-kun's a funny person, huh?"

Keima, despite himself, gave a small little smile. Yes, he did, and while he might disagree with Musubi's opinion of Dating Sims, she also had obviously felt very strongly on the subject, and who was he to hate a follower lover, of, well, love? It all distills, no matter how far apart a real-life love or a virtual one are, down to the same thing after all.

2D love was better however, just for the record.

"I like love." It might've sounded simple and almost childish, but almost profound because of it.

"I do too." Musubi nodded sagely, still lying upon the street. Despite the crowd at the restaurant, it had now dispersed and there was barely any foot traffic. She sighed, content but laced with the slightest hint of melancholy.. and longing?

"I wish I could find my Ashikabi." She said in a small voice. All of this talk of love, and, well..

Keima was not smiling anymore at the mention of this unknown term.

Keima abruptly turned, back now facing Musubi.

"Well, now that you're fed.." His voice had slipped into monotone, and he was facing nothing but the front of a PFP once again. He began the long walk back to his hotel.

Musubi, thrown off by Keima's cold shoulder, stood up, but took no steps toward Keima. Her face ran through a gamut of emotions, until resting on a look of worry.

"Erm.."

Her hands were now pressed tightly against her chest, perhaps to stimulate her heart enough to work up the courage to call after the quickly-retreating boy.

Keima then paused, as if noticing the woman's discomfort.

"Nice to meet you." It was in a notably friendlier tone, but also strained.

And as quickly as Musubi and Keima Katsuragi met each other in a whirlwind of activity, did they separate from each other.

Yes, it would be a long walk indeed back to the hotel.

============== Loading ==============

What happens when you walk away from the Heroine?

Sometimes, but not always, there were those twilight times when the protagonist in a story merely wandered throughout his life, interacting with various characters he may or may not get better acquainted with in the future.

Of course, if the protagonist wanted to go for a particular woman's heart right away, he would have to pay the most attention to her, to interact with her more than the others, just like real life. And often, the other heroines, when they were ignored, would go on to happily live their own life.

Just not with the protagonist.

But ignoring a heroine is one thing. Walking away from them?

And that's what Keima did.

On the balcony of his hotel suite, Keima was staring at the numerous rooftops and streets that criss-crossed across the city, no particular importance in his actions. Simply looking at the view. If there were a deeper meaning behind it, he didn't know.

Of course, there was a reason he walked away. That being, well, everything was too damn suspicious!

A woman falls out of the sky unto Keima, accompanied by _twins _in _leather outfits_ that _shot lightning_ that the first woman was able to dodge using _unparalleled strength and speed no man should have_.

That woman, being Musubi.

How many times would he have to stress the irregularity of it all? In the face of such mysterious developments, Keima knew that the longer he stayed, the longer he would be involved in.. Whatever Musubi was involved in. That's why he tried to run away in the first place! If he had maybe just given her money and sent her on her way, he'd happily be racking up hours of playtime by now.

But he went with him, they talked, and hell, they even bonded.

And he left anyway.

This is what bothered him.

By all means, a normal man can leave. If this was a normal situation. With a normal lady playing the leading role. If this was normal-land, where a man saves a woman from being mugged (the only plausible situation that could be used as a comparison,) the man is free to leave the woman right away after being the hero. If she was injured, maybe help her out a bit. But then again, it's not like the woman is at risk of being robbed right after the man leaves.

But Musubi wasn't ordinary, she certainly wasn't involved in something normal, and Keima? Keima was far from normal.

So chances are, Musubi was at risk. From the lightning twins to whatever she was trying to say before Keima left, she was definitely in danger.

Maybe. MAYBE she was in trouble; there's no way of figuring it out. The logic of the video game world was at work here, and when the real world was involved?.. well.. godddamnit, anything happened in the real world.

And Keima, to put it lightly, was not fond of the real world.

Alas, every man has to have at least one character flaw.

============== Loading ==============

The Hotel Manager, having regarded as Keima as a particularly special person of interest (the company that paid for him was said to now be particularly rich) rapped smartly on Keima's hotel door, delivering Keima's freshly-laundered laundry (why it was so wet confused the hotel workers.) He was short in stature and slightly balding, but he carried the air of responsibility needed to run a large hotel well.

What opened the door was a notably depressed and disheveled teenager.

"Sir?" The manager held out Keima's freshly laundered outfit, a simple long-sleeved white shirt with a stiff collar and a pair of khakis. Keima grabbed the clothes, uttered a word of thanks, and closed the door.

Humph. Even if he was a VIP, the old hotel worker still didn't approve of Keima. Sure, he wasn't a delinquent, but the way he was glued to that video game screen..

"The youth of today are useless," Keima accurately predicted of the man's monologue. Still, he'd only be here for two more days, so..

Keima found his restless self leaning on the railing of the balcony, once more looking down on the city. The night was as listless and dull as yesterday, and today proved to be no different. His eyes scanned the numerous streets and sidewalks, eyes passing over the crowds of people. He knew what he was doing, however.

He was looking for her.

Ahhh, whatever happened to those carefree times of video games and quiet?

Keima absent-mindedly lowered his hand to the PFP, which lay in its same spot where it was put down yesterday. He stared at it, absent-mindedly wiping the buttons with his fingers; as if one of his beloved heroines would suddenly pop unto the screen to make his worries disappear. Instead, he was rewarded with his reflection.

A moment of silence occurred where Keima's eyes met his own.

And he knew what to do.

Damn, he hated the times in the past where he was like this.

Cue little laugh.

He supposed one of the reasons he was so adamant to get involved in this particular story was because he wasn't even finished the first one.

Yes, this wasn't the first time Keima had been thrown into an outlandish situation, a plot ripped off the pages of a novel or a script for a game inserted into the real world.

His hands traced the choker-like accessory mounted around his neck, normally invisible to all. However, that was another matter altogether, so he decided to concentrate on what was in front of him. He threw on a polo shirt and a pair of jeans with haste, disregarding all his doubt and his negativity from yesterday.

He hit up the flag, he met the girl, and the route was locked in. He was the protagonist now, and nothing he could do would stop that fact.

And now's he gotta save the Heroine.

============== Loading ==============

Musubi awoke, having slept on a bench, and happy that it was another sunny day. The nights were actually quite harsh, but that was to be expected as the season became colder. Still, her circumstances did not detract from her mood, and after going up and doing a few stretches, she went off to complete her most important task- finding an Ashikabi.

Poor Musubi had incurred the wrath of some vengeful spirit, for ever since she had arrived to Shin Tokyo, she had a string of bad luck, including but not limited to the two ladies who shot lightning and losing her MBI-branded credit card.

Still, the reward at the end of this perilous journey still appealed greatly to Musubi, and this spark, combined with her insanely happy demeanor, kept her running.

The time with the boy in the glasses was still fresh in her mind, and Musubi lingered over the abrupt ending of their time together. Perhaps if she had called to him.. but Musubi wasn't sure if she felt the instant connection Sekirei did when found "the one," and, well, he was gone now. And she couldn't speak ill of him for doing so, however. Musubi was simply that nice.

"Still," Musubi thought, "I hope I can at least find a Ashikabi half as nice as Keima."

============== Loading==============

Keima was walking, then jogging, then running around the streets. Even though Musubi couldn't have gone that far, the city was still a large place. Even though it was opposite to his actions, Keima knew that if the world was definitely running in its funny, sadistically happy way, it would be a simple matter of time before the two crossed their paths.

Of course, since the world was running in its funny and sadistically happy way, it saw fit to hold a reunion between Keima and a certain pair of ladies..

"Grand opening! It's the grand opening of a new restaurant!" Hibiki and Hikari were wearing red and blue maid outfits respectively, a far departure from what they wore the first time Keima had met them. Indeed, it was even odder to see them handing out fliers and balloons to happy toddlers. Upon recognition of each other, however..

"CRAZY S&M TWINS!" Keima burst out.

"CREEPY KID WITH THE ANNOYING SEKIREI!" The two ladies yelled in response.

Keima immediately pulled a 180 and attempted to make a dash for it, but a well-aimed thunderbolt straight in front of him halted his escape. Before he knew it, the two ladies were staring him down, sparks playfully jumping from their hands mere inches away from his face.

"Where's that Sekirei?" The less angrier of the two had chosen to take the lead this time, although the embarrassment from their last encounter was still lingering in the background, causing Hibiki to be just as volatile as her other self.

The unknown term didn't matter to Keima, for he knew damn well who she was referring to, and with a threat of a bolt of electricity being jammed down his throat, specifics didn't matter. "I don't know! We separated soon after!" Keima shrieked, hands in front of his face in the slim hope he had somehow developed the ability to block lightning. Godddamnit, why now? An encounter like this only served to get Keima hurt for the enjoyment of a cruel higher being. If he needed to scream like a little girl to get out of this, so be it.

"Are you sure?" Hikari barked, increasing her power in such a way that the static crackle that her powers produced became intensely loud, much to Keima's chagrin.

"I HAVE NO IDEAA!" Keima's voice raised in pitch so high that he had basically broken out in hysterics.

*ggrrrrrrhhhhhmph*

A sound akin to a truck mating with a chainsaw flooded the street, as Keima realized that not only did he manage to attract a crowd, but also the attention of a hungry certain air-headed Sekirei.

"Ahh, I'm hungry again.." Musubi held her stomach as if to comfort it, completely unaware of what was occurring just a few feet to her left.

…..

"YOOOUUU LIIIAAAR!" The twins bellowed in unison, readying themselves to impale Keima's face with as much spears of lightning as they could.

"Ah, Keima-san!" Musubi had spotted him, giving a friendly wave. Wait..

"AH, KEIMA-SAN!" Fully grasping the situation at hand, Musubi had immediately dashed toward the twins, only to be driven back with a pillar of light that singed the front of her clothes and sent it toppling.

"Finally! Let's just get this over with!" The twins ignored Keima and strode towards Musubi slowly, their hands now crackling with excitement as opposed to the angry buzz they had shown towards Keima. "Lucky for us, it looks like you haven't been winged yet!" The twins were speaking one after another, and Keima couldn't figure out who was saying what.

They stopped, striking a deliberate pose, arms linked together and their free hands channeling the jittery stands of lightning. "Too bad you had to meet us two days in a row, huh?!" With that, the twins had swiftly raised their hands and swung it down like a guillotine, sending another wave of electricity at Musubi.

*KKKKRRAACKKT*

Keima pushed Musubi aside into a side alley, taking the full brunt of the attack and lighting up like a lightbulb connected to a nuclear reactor; that is, becoming bright as the sun and burning out right after. Keima landed with a soft thud in Musubi's chest, smoking and burnt.

"Ah, damn kid! You're not even her Ashikabi! Why even protect her?" Keima couldn't make out who said that particular phrase- his ears were filled with a buzzing noise, although he was unsure if it was his ears burning off or the two angry ladies in front of him.

He was no fighter. Even a lap around the school track was enough to wipe him out, and Keima honestly lamented not exercising more, if not to only gain more stamina to run away from situations. Even now, his head was pounding and his heart was throwing a tantrum.

"Keima-san.."

Ah, were these the angels come to escort Keima to the heavens?

"You.. can't give up!"

"wha-what?.."

A score of maidens surrounded him- no, shield maidens, more like! Clad in armor of distant lands and wielding weapons of all kinds, Keima recognized them as heroines with whom he had fought alongside with in other worlds.

"You were a great mage in my world!" A blonde knight declared, carrying with her nobility and grace that would belong to queens and kings alike.

"A conqueror who united my country!" A woman dressed in Japanese armour boomed; you could tell she lived for the thrill of battle.

"And a cunning strategist in mine!" A woman clad in a simple kimono, but still retaining the fierceness of any brave warrior worth their salt finished the line of praises, bring tears to Keima's eyes.

They were right. All of them. How could he waver so easily in the prospect of a fight, when he had fought endless times (in video games) and faced enemies of unimaginable scale and strength (in video games) to save scores of heroines? Fighting games, RPGS, Strategy games, he had won them all!

He was able to ignite the flames of passion in the real world by using the feelings he had grown in the 2D world; who was he to say he could not draw from his experiences of battle here?

He would take up the mantle he had worn in those war-torn lands, adopt once again his qualities of bravery and quick thinking wit- No, he already had all those, and more! He was both a fighter and a lover, a man who survived countless battles and captured the hearts of many more women!

He was Keima Katsuragi, The Capturing God!

"I.. I shall win! For truth! For justice! FOR LOVE!"

[Fade to black]

Ending Theme: Dream Traveller of the Integrated Circuitry

Lyrics: Keima Katsuragi / Vocals: Keima Katsuragi Feat. 2D girls

*KKKRRAAACCKK!*

A thick layer of dust clouded the air, as both Keima's and Musubi's bodies were shielded from view. Hikari raised her arm for another strike, but Hibari grabbed her arm, spotting something new in the dust cloud.

This figure looked ready for a fight; they gave off an ominous aura by the way they stood.

Actually, it was Keima wielding a garbage can lid and a lead pipe.

Let it be said that Keima was not immune to moments of insanity, however clouded his regular definition of 'sanity' was.

"Why you-" Hikari instantly flung a flash of lightning, but Keima threw the lid into its path, sending both flying in opposite directions. Musubi strained to get up, but found herself a lot weaker than she usually was; that cold night must've done a great deal on her than she realized.

Keima still held the pipe with two hands, but despite his battle-ready pose, he was in no way ready to even survive a flick to the forehead.

"Keima-san, you don't have to do this for all me.." Musubi said, feeling indebted to the boy. Going to such lengths was too much, although she had to admit, that warm feeling growing in her chest calmed her down. Ah, was she possibly reacting to him?..

"No." He sounded unsure, and he still was- about all of this. It had been a long time since Keima had taken up such impulsive actions. He knew it wouldn't be the last.

"I do."

Something about Keima's unwavering loyalty apparently cracked something in the twin's psyches- the younger twin found herself having a fit of anger. Another loud crack and Keima was once again sent tumbling towards Musubi, lead pipe flying out of his hands and Musubi catching his frail body in her arms as Hibiki shrieked out,

"THAT'S IT! I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR HEAD OFF AND THEN SHOOT A LIGHTNING BOLT DOWN YOUR DAMN NECK-"

"Nice tits."

"WHAT THE HELL, SEO?!" Hibiki had seamlessly transitioned from being violent to being outright shocked.

"Well, I'm just saying, they're an awful nice pair that Sekerei's got."

With a shrewd smile, a man whom Keima could only describe as 'The roughest-looking deus ex machina' appeared from the other end of the alley and wrapped his arms around the twin's shoulders, beginning to grope their ample chests.

"DAMN IT, SEO!" "Damn it, Seo.." Although the twins definitely looked angry enough to send the apparent molester into a burn ward, their mixed reactions of pleasure and fury were apparently intense enough to stop them from doing anything. He gave off a obnoxious laugh, continuing on with his perverted act.

"What- what the hell are you even doing here?!" Hibiki was on the verge of killing the poor man who had wrapped an arm around her, if her bouts of wayward sparks held back only by a hair trigger had any indication. "You were supposed to be at your job earning us some money so we can eat!" That last part was stressed upon far too strongly.

Seo seemed hurt, although it was all in jest as he laughed brashly. "Hey, hey, Hibiki! I thought you were supposed to be the nicer of the two! Well, I ended up clockin' a guy when I was at the counter cause' he was being a proper ass. Got fired pretty quickly after that after I knocked the manager's head around a bit, too." It appeared all the anger that the twins had directed towards Keima had found a new target, one painfully oblivious to what was coming next..

"Today was payday." Hibiki was angry now, but her other half was the epitome of 'angry,' Hikari's words dripping with more venom than Hibiki could ever muster up. "Did you at least manage to pick up your paycheque?..."

"... Nope! Guess we'll be living on rice for a few more weeks, huh?"

_***KRRRAAACCKKKATTHOOOOMMM***_

If what the twin's powers could be described as was power over thunderstorms, the ability they displayed right then was more comparable to a priestess's act of calling forth a godly force to smite non-believers, the quite devastating, jagged streak of energy crackling with such voltage that anything metal nearby still had sparks dancing along it's surfaces.

"_ow_." Seo squeaked, his voice high pitched and barely audible. He coughed, a comical puff of black smoke arising from his lungs. It was a miracle that his clothes, heck, his body wasn't reduced to ashes the same soot-coloured blackness that was the colour that Seo was hacking out of his chest. As if the lightning bolt had consumed all the tension in the air, the sisters merely stood in place with no fight in them, winded from delivering a gargantuan display of raw energy simply because the man in front of them had irritated them.

The poor man turned a teary face towards the sisters, Hibiki looking off to one side, Hikari attempting to whistle and failing horribly. Then he turned towards Keima and Musubi and shuffled towards them, looking much like an electrocuted zombie at that. Only the shuffle of his dragging footsteps could he head as he stood right in front of the two, still on the ground, and he kneeled slightly. Keima honestly thought he was about to collapse atop them, but instead the man ruffled the kid's hair.

"Bit young to be an Ashikabi, kid."

Keima couldn't quite grasp anything about this man. One side of his brain dedicated to analyzing people warned him that the words used to describe this guy was, to grab a few words from Keima's diverse vocabulary, "Useless, Slacker, Creepy.."

White undershirt, ripped-up jeans.. "Violent, arrogant, freeloader.."

Unshaven face, messy hair.. "Loyal, good-natured, cunning.."

"What?" Keima blurted out, attempting to sort out the half-fried contents of his brain. At this point, Seo had kneeled down to stare at Keima, still shielding Musubi from harm.

Useless, Violent, Good-natured Seo gave off another fond laugh, absent-mindedly patting Keima's head- he was much like a big brother teasing his younger sibling, a act most unexpected considering he was almost burnt to a crisp. "Interesting guy, considering you didn't wing this pretty lady yet." He turned his head towards Musubi, who, at this point was just watching the events in front of her occur, was beginning to blush slightly at the mention of this "winging." Another gruff laugh, and Seo stood up and walked towards Hikari and Hibari, the two unsure of what would happen next. The two looked genuinely sorry for delivering such a harsh blow.

Seo slung his arms around the twins again (after what that had led to, Keima was slightly impressed), but the two were docile now, and Seo wasn't outright molesting them. "Ya know, I'ma fine 'bein a lightning rod once in a while, but you ladies kinda overdid that one." His voice was still rough around the edges, but he honestly sounded a bit wary. Hikari attempted to defend herself, her excuse along the lines of "We might've overdid that one.." but Hibiki regained her humility enough to add "...because we were overreacting. We got a bit too worked up." The two really did seem repentant, the glance Hibiki shooting toward Keima containing only half the desire to fry his innards. Luckily for the two, Seo ruffled their hair much he did to Keima, and he didn't sound angry. "Aaah, 's alright. Gotta be expected to see a bit of fire from you, seeing as you two are lightning in the sack."

"You ass.. " "Seo, ya' jerk.." The two muttered, looking more comforted than angry, relief seeping into Hibari's abashed profile and Hikari's pouting looks. The gentle, crude, subtle-as-a-train-wreck slightly misogynist comment being said at such a time meant everything was well between the three.

Seo's bravado came back to him soon enough, and twins in his arms more for support than anything, began to walk them off in the other direction, voice cocky and confident as ever.

"Well, who are we to interrupt two lovebirds? I don't roll like that."

"But- hold on a damn minute, attacking unwinged Sekirei was your idea!"

Seo completely ignored that relevant last sentence. "Hmm, maybe you girls 'oughta do some 'special' service for me when we get back to make up for this, huh?" As the trio turned a corner, Keima swore he heard not-so-distant thunder, along with a man's shriek- Keima wondered if the sisters were so volatile specifically because of that man. Keima wasn't sure how he should feel after escaping such a emotional circus- angry? relieved? exhausted? He couldn't summon up the words needed to describe the topsy-turvy chain of events he was going through.

Also, did he just encounter a bonding moment right after an attempted attack on his life? A bonding moment between the _people attacking him_, no less?

Truly no words to describe his life right now.

Soon enough, the day was as lifeless as ever, and there was nobody around once again, bar Keima lying atop Musubi-

"Erk." The sound was more casual than anything, but there was no eye contact as Keima stood up and dusted himself off. The two walked towards the entranceway to the alley, neither of them saying a word. It was only when Musubi increased her pace just enough to catch up to Keima and shoot a casual glance towards his profile, eyes giving off a curious gleam as she idly asked him,

"So, it was lucky we bumped into each other, didn't we?"

"Erk." Not as casual. The teenager froze.

"You weren't worried about me, weren't you?" She was still discussing the matter like one would be discussing the weather.

Keima's response was immediate. Turning around and brandishing a pointed finger at Musubi, he yelled out,

"NO! I was just.. just wondering what you were talking about yesterday! About your 'Ashikabi' and 'Winging' or.. or whatever! THAT'S IT!"

Musubi's smile merely grew wider, and Keima instantly recoiled, repressing the urge to smack himself in the head. With that outburst of tsundere, the roles were pretty much switched around, weren't they? Keima might've been the princess and Musubi the dashing prince dashing in to save Keima from-

Wait, that was pretty much the case, wasn't it? Ah, damn it..

Musubi gave off an innocent giggle; Keima could swear that for all her naivety and innocence, she was actually teasing him.

"An 'Ashikabi' is someone whom I've never seen, yet is very precious to me."

It sounded practiced, but revered, like a man reciting his wedding oaths.

"Someone whom I'll serve."

A step.

"Someone whom I'm to guide."

A step further.

"To the higher sky above."

Keima and Musubi stood face-to-face.

"And this is what we 'Sekirei' refer to as 'Winging.'"

A pair of bird-like wings burst out of her back, which blossomed into streaks of purple that stretched out all around her, more solid than light but yet softer than glass. A violet hue dyed the air around her, her own body giving off the peaceful luminescence. But what Keima noticed most of all was her smile- while normally she was all sunshine and rainbows, this time she gave off a look of bliss that even sent the normally staunch Keima to blush slightly.

For all the times that Keima had encountered that particular look, he could never put it exactly into words. It wasn't necessarily that he didn't have the vocabulary needed to describe it, nor was it a form of respect in this particular look 'could never be described with mere words.' He simply never knew how to say it.

She was happy. She was in love.

============== Loading ==============

Back in Keima's hotel room, Musubi was sleeping on the particularly squishy bed in the middle of the room, the TV providing a steady stream of background noise while Keima simply leaned against the balcony, playing a game as always. The PFP still felt slightly warmer than usual to the touch, although he was just lucky it didn't burn out after that encount-

*ffffzzzt..* A thin trail of smoke came out of the PFP. Keima gave a small frown of displeasure, gently laying it on the balcony table. He winced slightly doing so. Even slightly bending ever reminded him he was sore, and burnt, and tired.

Keima didn't sigh as often as his misfortune allowed him to. Still, he gave a little 'hmmph' of discomfort.

Keima realized just how impulsive he was these days, finding himself running after girls on a bad feeling and fighting against angry, belligerent living lightning rods.

And what now? He could not see an ending; nor could he believe there was one in his unforeseeable future. This unnerved Keima. For a large part of his life, he had planned everything out to the nearest detail, and it went perfectly well, save for a few bumps in the road that simply meant he had to recalculate his projected route in life. And now, well, he was flung into a world he barely knew about, where every day could herald a new headache and a chance to get grievously injured. And if every day was was like today..

The real world.

Was this what it felt like living in the real world?

Keima Katsuragi sighed.

What had changed from the halcyon days of 2d screens and warm controllers? Scratch that question, He knew full well what changed in his life to.. stir up ripples in his lifestyle.

The images lingered in his mind; lively voices overlapped the still but clear images cycling through his head, not unlike a flashback in a video game.

"Kami-sama.." He was never really used to that declaration being used so casually.

"… Spirits in the gaps of maidens.." It really was, and still is, a pain to this day..

".. Hell won't return to its former glory… As long as you goddesses exist!" Is that what she said? Keima heard it second-hand..

"I.. don't really mean.. what I said at that time.." …

But that was the past, and Keima thought nothing of it except when he needed to. Or at least he tried to. As he likes to think What's past is prologue.. or rather, prerequisite.

Prerequisite. Hmm. Ever steady on the cel-shaded brick road, at least.

He walked over to Musubi; oddly enough, the way she was sleeping so deeply reminded him of a hibernating bear. He shook her gently, and she muttered lightly, "No, the ham isn't very delicious.."

Oh, she loves food, huh? What an endearing trait.

"Hey, Musubi." He nudged her.

Musubi immediately sprang up, her non-existent dog ears perked up and her equally as existent tail wagging. "Yes, Keima-sama?" the change in prefixes startled Keima considering what he mulled about earlier, but he pressed on.

"About earlier.. about Sekireis and Ashikabis, I still don't have a clue about what you're talking about."

"Ah! I never told you about the Sekirei Plan either, right?"

*beepbeepbeep!*

Keima turned off the TV.

"No, you didn't. Can you tell me everything you know about…" Keima scrambled over the little he knew. "..everything?"

Musubi tapped the side of her forehead with a fist in a light-hearted gesture. "Ehehe, I'm not sure if I can tell you everything-"

*beepbeepbeep!*

Keima paused. The TV was off now. Where was that coming from?...

Keima turned his head towards the source, his supposedly burnt-out PFP. He walked over and lifted it up, and the minute it was at eye level-

"CONGRRRAAAULATIONS!"

He came face to face in a man in white.

=================== Save? ===================

**Notes**

**Hey. What's up.**

**First time writer, first story released, and I got no betas. I'm not saying it's automatically horrible, but that being said I fully expect there to be mistakes and crappy writing a-plenty in my story. So rip into it all you want, reviewers. If you enjoy it, that's a whole other matter. Feel free to review all the same.**

**Anyway, I've had this idea stewing for a while, and while it certainly isn't the first story I'm working on, this chapter is the first of the batch to feel satisfying enough for actual release. I'm a fan of both TWGOK and Sekirei, but I admit I can count the amount of dating sims/galges I've played on one hand, and my knowledge of Japan and it's customs are limited to that known by a fan of anime and manga and vidya games. And not a hardcore fan, too, so it's limited knowledge. But for the sake of this fanfiction, I will learn more and play more!**

**Now, for the story itself. Time-wise, it's just after Keima finished up the Goddess Arc, so while Keima's undergone a bit of character development, he still has room to grow. Seo is met early, because I do plan to skewer the pacing just a bit to get some original content in.**

**.. I've honestly a lot to say, but I feel I've written too much already. I'll end this with a note that updates will be sporadic (I'm sorry if this makes you sad,) but I'll try my best to crank out chapters.**

**EDIT: Added more to the encounter with Seo, finished up a sentence that I didn't even finish in the beginning (I'm ashamed, really,) minor edits here and there.**


	2. Random Encounters

**Pre-story notes: Sorry, had this chapter done for a while, but not.. done done. Still, at least now it's done. Thanks to all that reviewed, or favourited, or followed, or any combination of the three. The fact that people might actually like this amuses me as much as it scares me.**

**I'm unsure of how to word this properly, so I shall simply go ahead and say I own none of the content here, which is specifically the characters and certain plot elements owned by their respective companies and/or people in this story, except the story itself, which I wrote. **

**See? Awkward phrasing, that is.**

===========Booting Up============

"CONGRRRAAAULATIONS!" The man in white screamed out, every dragged out syllable injected with as much boisterous grandeur as humanly possible. He paused for dramatic effect, his hands still stretched outwards in a deliberate sweeping gesture. Heck, the man _was_ dramatic effect personified, with bleach-white hair and a just as blinding white outfit complete with a cloak and high collar. And Keima swore the man was even wearing platform shoes.

The man stayed in his funny little pose, making Keima believe he was supposed to react humorously to this. Quite possibly shock, or confusion, or whatever would entertain the man. Keima regarded the man with a look of utmost seriousness, and then he decided,

"No."

*Click*

The video feed immediately cut off. Keima was about to put down the PFP when..

*Click*

The screen was back on, and the man was not pleased.

"What do you mean, NO? I am-"

"NO."

*Click*

And then the man called again, prompting the same response by Keima. And so this went on for quite a bit…

Musubi merely acted as the audience to this comedy act, not willing to interfere. In a way, it was like a verbal tennis match, with the childish screams of the older man bouncing off one side of the room and Keima's angry responses off another. After a while, It was apparent that Keima was winning, as evidenced by the increasingly higher pitched voice of the man in white. Finally, it reached to a boil as the man came to hysterics.

"WHYYY WOONN'T YOUU LIISSTTEENN TOO-"

"I SAID NO!"

Keima wasn't entirely sure why he did it, but he needed to muffle the sounds of the annoying man-child, and so in an impulsive act, he shoved the PFP where he thought it would never see the light of day again; that is, between Musubi's breasts.

"… What the- Why is it so dark?!"

Keima was left staring at what his actions had done, where the man's muffled complaints could be faintly be heard- Musubi herself was struck speechless by Keima's act. He definitely knew that wasn't the best of ideas, but to be honest, he was contemplating leaving it there. Musubi looked at Keima on what to do, but he merely shrugged. Finally coming to a decision, Musubi fished out the console, with the enigmatic man still on the screen now on the verge of tears.

"Number 88! Don't tell me such a cruel young lad has become your Ashikabi!"

Musubi didn't refute that outright, but she smiled kindly enough. "He's nicer than he looks, professor!"

Hold on, so he didn't look nice in the first place?..

"Face me towards him, would you?" Musubi obediently raised the PFP's screen to face height. Amusingly enough, Keima by then was facing a wall, conforming to the admittingly childish idea of "if you can't see them, you don't have to deal with them." After a hard nudge or two, Keima grudgingly turned to meet this 'professor.'

"Well, well. I'm not entirely sure how you managed to block me out!" Apparently ignoring the last few moments of his comedy act (or, at least, Keima hoped it was an act,) He had resumed using his overdramatic tone. "Then again, this little piece of technology has been modified quite a bit, eh?" Referring to Keima's PFP, The man nodded his head in approval. "Probably worth a lot more than your standard, off-the-rack model."

No response from Keima.

"Now, before I was so rudely interrupted, I'm here to congratulate you for being one of the lucky few in Shin Tokyo to become the partner of a Sekirei!"

The man's eyes were obscured by the white glare coming off his glasses, and in the faint reflection of the PFP's screen Keima could make out his own pair. He never really felt his glasses added to his image, but a pair of glasses on that man practically screamed "magnificent bastard" all on their own.

"By becoming a partner with dear number 88-" Musubi flashed off a quick smile at the mention of her apparent assigned number- "The two of you are automatically entered into the Sekirei Plan." He rolled off the last two words off his tongue with an attempt to make the term sound like an exotic spice from a distant land.

No response from Keima.

"What is the Sekirei Plan, you might ask? Well, it's where 108 Sekirei's fight! Fight, and fight, and fight on until one is left on the battlegrounds of Shin Tokyo, where their Ashikabi shall be allowed to ascend to the heavens!" His hands were flailing above his head. Eerily, Keima was reminded of his similar actions yesterday, but he pushed it out of his mind.

"But.." He suddenly took on a playful and threatening tone, although it was still on the cheesy side of the acting spectrum.

"You see, the Sekirei Plan is a secret to all but those who are involved, now including you. If you happen to mention the plan to anyone.." He made a deliberate slitting motion with his index finger. "Well, I'll make sure MBI sends 'representatives' over to clear anything up. Got it?"

No response from Keima.

Believing he had delivered his performance so well that Keima was shell-shocked, He believed his explanation was done, and so his voice immediately perked up to a level rivalling that of Musubi's. "Well, that's it! Take care, number 88!" He waved one gloved hand in good-bye.

"Ah, good-bye, Professor!" having to still hold her arms outward to hold the PFP up to Keima's face, Musubi had to lean forwards and look at the PFP upside-down, almost toppling over in the act.

And with a click, the screen turned black, leaving Keima to once again glare at his own reflection.

Musubi raised her head and noticed Keima was still staring straight at the PFP, his jaw set and his eyes narrowed in apparent thought. "Keima?"

Keima reached out for the PFP and turned it back on, tapping away rapidly at its controls. She thought that he was simply starting up his game again, but then came a sound not unlike the one heralding the apparent "professor's" call.

"… do you really have to be like that every time you call somebody?" A voice off-screen alerted Keima to a female presence. Whoever it was sounded very exasperated with the 'professor.' He was currently still sitting on his little throne, although he wasn't looking at the camera or whatever he used to talk with Keima.

"Well, it worked! He was, dare I say, awestruck.." Keima noted his voice, although still very overbearing, had managed to calm down a notch or two.

"Yeah, any man would be awestruck by the crap that spews out of your mouth." The man recoiled in mock pain, unable to shield the heavy blow the words carried out. Keima immediately felt a kindred soul in whoever this woman was.

"Hold on a minute, the camera's on." The out-of-sight voice suddenly announced. The actor in white instantly snapped his head towards Keima, an amused smile plastered across his face. Keima immediately sensed a change in tone, and he didn't like it.

"Ara, ara. You're awfully talented, getting past MBI's security like that." His voice managed to discard the game show host qualities he loved so much, thank goodness. "I've never had somebody go to such lengths just to talk with me, Keima Katsuragi."

Keima's face rankled at the mention of his full name. Intimidation, maybe? "Who wouldn't want to talk to the famous Minaka Hiroto, director of the super-conglomerate MBI?" Although he instantly adopted the same business-like manner of the CEO, he couldn't muster enough suaveness to rival Minaka. It appeared the man really was a good actor, or good enough to appear competent, at least. Keima decided to pay a bit more attention to Minaka now.

"Oh, so you do know who I am! Ah, but to be honest, I can't imagine anybody who hasn't!" He was becoming genuinely aggravating now, and Keima clenched his teeth, noticing that the way things were progressing, the conversation would ratchet up to playing-mind-game levels.

"I just want to ask a question or two, really."

"Oh? Well then, shoot!" Minaka's voice was far too friendly for Keima's tastes, but nevertheless..

"Well, I'm just reconfirming- I'm not the only one in this type of situation? Where somebody meets a 'Sekirei' and ends up becoming their 'Ashikabi?"

"mmm-hmm!" Keima thought back to the twins and the man named 'Seo.' So he was also an Ashikabi, involved in this.. 'Sekirei Plan.' He wondered if everybody would be as crazy as him and his Sekirei.

"And Sekireis are what, exactly?"

"Aliens. Powered by love, if you haven't noticed." Merrily said, although Minaka didn't know this obtuse answer served to irk Keima more.

"Aliens. Powered by love." Keima repeated.

"Anything else?" Minaka said, eager to please. Keima didn't say anything, but he still stared dead on into Minaka's eyes. Keima's head was chock full of questions ready to be fired one after another like a machine gun, but something began tugging on Keima's mind, an inquiry different than the rest: for Keima had emotional investment in this one, simple question.

"Why?"

This actually stunned the man on the white throne for a second- it was asked so bluntly and so.. harshly. A lot of weight was put behind it. Atop Minaka's little throne, he began to think this new contender in his machinations was going to be a very interesting variable.

"It's just, why? Partnerships with aliens to win some sort of tournament, fine. But why love specifically? Why throw in love in all this?"

Minaka actually smiled. A genuine one, too, which threw off Keima. "Because, as you and I both know, love is what drives mankind unto greater achievements." While the man's personality and way of speaking was a bit annoying, Keima had managed to discard all feelings of actual dislike towards this man. But that particular sentence? Wrong. Wrong in every way possible.

And so Keima frowned at that.

"I think you and I have different ideas of what love is, Minaka Hiroto." He said it a bit too quietly for his own taste, and turned off the PFP without another word. Musubi looked concerned, having sensed the uneasiness from Keima. He merely sat in place, eyes glazed over and his face still locked in deep through. Musubi shifted in her place a bit, unsure of what to say, but a knock on the door managed to serve as a distraction. Keima could only pray it was room service, but he knew better as he opened the door..

"You're from MBI, right?" The man, well-built and quite frankly mountainous, nods, and took out a simple brown package. It was open, and Keima saw that it was filled with extra clothes for Musubi, along with thin envelope neatly placed on top. Keima accepted it, passing it along to Musubi. The messenger turned on his heels and began to walk away, but..

"Ah, hold on a second." The man stops. "Can you possibly get a message to Minaka Hiroto?"

The grunt.. grunts, for lack of a better term. "Depends on what it is."

Keima inhaled in a deep amount of air.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"ALIENS? POWERED BY LOVE? A SECRET TOURNAMENT?!" Keima started to rant, despite the illicit instructions not to yell those specific details out in public. Yet the messenger simply stood there as Keima continued on with his outburst.

"THAT WAS THE WORST EXPLANATION EVER! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO! HE DIDN'T EVEN EXPLAIN ANYTHING ABOUT THE FIGHTS! IF THIS WAS A RPG, IT'D BE LIKE THROWING A PLAYER INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD WITHOUT A TUTORIAL!"

The messenger decided that ultimately killing Keima Katsuragi was worth too much trouble, and he shuffled off, but not before Keima also yelled out,

"ALSO, THAT WAS THE WORST ACTING I'VE EVER HEARD!"

He slammed the door, turning to a freshly-changed Musubi. Well, sort of- it was a set of her old clothes, just not ripped and burnt. As anybody would react when confronted with an angry outburst, she looked quite worried; Keima looked off to the side, still fuming and feeling embarrassed that he had thrown a tantrum so easily.

"Keima-sama.. Do you not want to be part of the Sekirei Plan?"

Keima knew full well that denying the plan meant in turn denying Musubi. And if what Minaka said was right, Sekirei would be 'powered up' by their emotions of love (which, really, was something that confused Keima immensely- he'd have to figure out specifics later.) That, and he wasn't a callous guy. He didn't like the real world, but he couldn't hate the people there for living in it.

Well, most of the time.

" I'm just ranting. Let's go out, there's a game I've been meaning to pick up." He sounded a bit grumpy, but he seemed to be in a better mood. Before he could head out of the door, however, he paused. He pondered on saying a certain something, but ultimately couldn't summon enough nerve to say it. Instead..

"You're, uh, a good person." He added. It was completely out of the blue, and the words were far from impactful, but Musubi could sense the kindness in them nonetheless. And Keima was genuinely trying to be kind. Alas, the radiance and sunbeams that emanated from Musubi's smile could not shine on the cold, frigid wasteland that was currently Keima's face. At least she wasn't depressed, now.

Something occurred to Keima, though. He was supposed to leave his hotel today- If he had to stay in Shin Tokyo for longer.. Keima pondered on what to do. Call his mother? He shuddered at the thought at having to explain any of this. Also..

"Arrrrghhh.." Keima realized his vacation was now officially over. "I don't have enough money on me for a hotel…" Upon hearing the word money, Musubi piped up, "Ah, they gave me a replacement for my card that I lost!" She held up the thin envelope that Keima had overlooked.

Keima's eyes contracted the second he heard that word. "Card?"

(So!)

Keima shuffled up unto the front desk of the hotel, the short angry hotel manager glaring at him. "Anything before you leave?" There was a faint hint of happiness in that sentence. Still, Keima paid no heed as he asked courteously,

"I'd like to rent out that room for the time being, actually. "

Mr. Manager raised an eyebrow. "Sir," as he said very sparingly when it came to Keima, "I'm afraid your room might be too expensive for your-" Keima swiftly handed him the card, MBI emblazoned in thick black letters on the front. He squinted his eyes, and then his brain came to a full stop.

"HHHRRRKK!"

The manager might've suffered a heart attack right then and there, for he immediately recognized the name of the giant, multi-billion company that was plastered on front of the card. MBI cards were only given to people of.. prestigious ranking in the company. The manager remembered fondly a woman with one of those same cards racking up a fortune in alcohol alone not so long ago. With a shaking hand, he quickly entered the card's details. The cold hand of silence had both Keima and the Manager in its crushing grip as the Manager waited for confirmation from his computer.

[Accepted]

"Th-thank you, and don't hesitate to call if you need anything.." The manager was simply dumbstruck at what this kid had managed to obtain. And with the amount of cash he was now packing, perhaps it was wise simply to accept this generous windfall. Besides, the woman last time was also a generous tipper..

Keima accepted it with a shaking hand, as he asked one question.

"Is there a limit on this card?" It came out as barely a whisper.

"HHHHNNNNNNGGG!"

============== Loading ================

Keima almost had a bounce to his step as he and Musubi made their way to the nearest electronics store to rob it of all its stock. Keima held the credit card in his hands gingerly, thinking of the many, many things he would buy. He'd buy all the newest copies of games he wasn't able to afford the first time he went out. He'd buy a second copy of each as a backup. He'd buy a fleet of PFPs, all sleeker than the last. Accessories? Why not- he could afford a solid gold case, if he wanted to.

"I'm happy that you like it so much, Keima-sama." Musubi was infected by Keima's mood, feeling in quite the jolly mood herself. "I wish I could've remembered to take my card when the plan started; I'd been starving and been without shelter for weeks!"

"And now I will buy all the video games I want!" Keima announced to the world, oblivious to the grimness of Musubi's last sentence. Then again, so was Musubi. He held out his arm to her, and she happily accepted, and so arm-in-arm they pranced along the streets of Shin Tokyo-

"Hungry.." A desolate voice groaned below. Keima stopped mid-skip to look down at a pitiful man lying face-down on the street. He was wearing nothing but ragged jeans and a frayed, old bomber jacket. Well, moving on-

"Keima.." Musubi tugged at the edge of Keima's shirt. Keima supposed the hard times Musubi went through before meeting him made her sympathetic to this starving man. Well, he did have a potentially unlimited source of cash, so Keima could spare a poor man one meal. "Do you want a meal, sir? I can happily pay." His euphoria was so high that he even managed to sound like a generous, well-adjusted young man out to do a good deed.

The stranger rolled over, and Keima met the unshaven, dirty face of the man named Seo.

"That sounds great, kid!" He flashed a toothy smile at Keima. Yeah, no, he could go ahead and starve.

"WHY ARE YOU LEAVING ME?!" Seo had hooked unto the teenager's leg as Keima attempted in vain to get away. "NOPE, NOPE, NOPE!" Keima furiously denied the man's existence, all frivolity from before gone now. "THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT SOMETHING HAS GONE RIGHT-" "THEN YOUR LIFE'S BETTER THAN MINE, MAN!" Seo was close to the edge of tears. "I JUST WANT A SMALL MEAL! I SAVED YOU AND YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" To make matters worse, his pitiful wailing had alerted two awfully familiar figures in awfully familiar maid outfits.

Musubi gave a short gasp and instantly readied herself for a fight. "Ah, you two-"

*CRRAACCK!*

"SEO, YOU IDIOT!" "Seo, you idiot.." The two known as Hikari and Hibiki arrived on the scene. Immediately spotting Seo clinging unto Keima, they flung two well-aimed shocks- Keima hadn't felt a thing. He almost heard Seo whimper like a dog as he dropped and the two picked him up by the ears, one each, and started to yell in that respective ear.

"YOU SHOULDN'T BE MOOCHING-" "Don't you have any pride, Seo?" The man was being chewed out by the maids, and Keima almost felt pity for the man. On the other hand, it was quite interesting to look at, now that Keima wasn't on the bad end of the twin's attitude. He could see the minute differences the twins did in their actions- Hikari was twisting and blaring out demeaning insults in Seo's left ear, and Hibiki was pinching and lecturing the right side. "Buuut hee offerrred.." Seo moaned, two simultaneous headaches developing in his head. Hibari ignored him, turned to Keima and bowed deeply. "We're sorry that our useless master had to bother you-" Hibiki flicked her head back up, finally realizing who she was standing in front of. "You!"

Musubi immediately dashed in front of Keima, fist out in a defiant pose. "If you want to fight again, I'm ready this time!" Hikari dropped Seo and stood next to her other half, a sneer quickly developing on her face. "Yeah, well, we still haven't paid you back for-"

*ggrawwwll* *grrrrrrrrr..*

….

Musubi turned toward Keima. "Did I eat breakfast?"

"You did. Twice." The twins blushed as their stomachs yearned for sustenance, and Keima really felt he should've just left Seo alone. Deciding that there was no way to get out of this event, He walked over to Seo, once again face-down in the cement. He kicked him over so he could see his face, Seo's mug burnt and depressed.

D:

"Fine. Let's go."

:D

"Really?"

"Really." Seo jumped up, and led Keima away. "Well, I know this great place.."

The two Ashikabi were quickly leaving behind their Sekirei, still prepared to attack each other on the drop of a hat. Well, two now as Musubi ran after Keima soon after. "I'm hungry too!" She spontaneously decided. Hibiki and Hikari looked at each other.

"… I guess free food is free food in the end." Hibiki conceded. She promptly turned to catch up with the rest. Hikari stood in place, looking conflicted, but the temptation of being offered a free meal was too hard to resist in the trying times that she found herself in. Still..

"I still hate Seo." Hikari mumbled, setting off behind Hibari.

==========Loading===========

Now, It should be noted that Keima ultimately decided that he eventually would have had to seek out Seo- after all, he was the only other Ashikabi he knew of aside from himself, and he was a potential wealth of information. However, he stressed the word _eventually._ As in, _not today_, the one time he would feel relaxed since this whole Sekirei affair. As in, _later_, and not spend the better half of an hour staring at this scruffy man stuff himself with food. And good lord, the man sure as hell was stuffing himself with food.

"Oh, man, these pancakes are great!" Seo said, mouth bulging with the fluffy concoction. He was sitting in-between Hibiki and Hikari, sitting on his left and his right respectively. "Don't eat with your mouth full, idiot!" Hikari, unaware that she was doing the same, chided Seo, zapping the man with a poke of the finger. It was enough to make him twitch, knocking a platter of fruit over as a result. "My food…" In turn, Hibiki leaned across and knocked her sister on the head with a spoon. "And you as well," She said calmly, taking a sip of coffee afterwards.

Musubi giggled. This was a pretty nice moment, actually; she was enjoying a nice little parfait herself.

Keima absent-mindedly rapidly pressed away at the buttons on his PFP, hoping life had a skip button he never knew about until then. You see, he had never sat down to a meal and hadn't eaten himself- He believed the act of eating was a waste of precious time that could be delegated to.. well, you know the picture by now. So normally, he rushed through his meals with gusto, and having to wait for other people eat..

Finally, Seo had stopped gorging himself, patting his stomach contently. "Alright then! Big Brother Seo's here if you need me, kid!" he held out his hand, and Keima shook it, albeit not very energetically. "Katsuragi Keima." Seo offered another broad grin, settling into his seat and wrapping his arms around the twins (who were nonplussed about the action, oddly enough.)

"So, you just winged that pretty lady of yours, huh?" Musubi smiled at the mention, but Keima's eyes narrowed. "How'd you know about that?" Seo gave off the most casual of shrugs. "She wasn't winged yesterday, wasn't she? Can't imagine you and her hanging around if she wasn't." Keima snapped his fingers in apparent realization. "Right, I remember now, that was after your Sekirei attacked the both of us!" The twins beside Seo had their mood soured, but they ate their meals in silence nonetheless. Seo's eyes looked upward in mock thought, but Keima knew his act was as flimsy as his own. "Hell if I know what these two get up to when I'm not around." Plausible deniability, huh?.. well, Keima wasn't wrong in that this man was more intelligent than he appeared.

"I've got questions." Keima decided to get straight to the point.

Seo rubbed two fingers together. "It'll cost ya." Keima bristled at how easily the man jumped into the opportunity, but the topic of money made Keima realize something. He should've realized it earlier, the minute Seo had asked for a meal, actually. He took out the black MBI card from his pocket, catching the sunlight and glinting in his hand. "You don't have this?" Seo shook his head. "Two, actually. Just like'd to always have paper on me for emergencies, you know?" Keima scoffed at the idea of forgoing TWO sources of unlimited money just to fill a wallet, but he didn't press further.

"I paid you for the meal, didn't I?" Seo scoffed. "Yeah, for saving your life. You and I both know you would'a been fried to ashes if I hadn't come along." Keima grimaced, but next thing he knew Seo suddenly laughed. "All right, just for you, Keima buddy ol' pal. One question. As a freebie." Keima shuddered at how close Seo was being with him. Plus, one question? The asshole.

"Well, I'm just wondering what to do now." A broad enough question to receive multiple answers.

Seo laughed again. "Kinda a broad question, isn't it?" He waved the matter away. "You got the call, right?" Keima nodded. "Well, there are going to be scheduled fights, but for now all the Sekirei haven't been winged yet. So, just take this time to relax. Have some fun with your girlfriend. Don't get killed. Maybe wing another Sekirei."

Keima ignored the casual mention of death in the middle of his sentence. "Wing another Sekirei? You can do that?"

"Well, yeah! How'd you think I got these two lucky ladies?" He began to rub the assets of his two Sekirei, who responded in kind by simultaneously jolting him through his hands; He comically coughed out a black puff of smoke.

"So.. just wait?" Keima felt very, very irritated by that. Seo stood up, stretching his arms. "Yep. Don't worry, you'll find something to do." The way he said it suggested that whatever would occupy Keima's time wouldn't be by his own choice. Seo patted Keima on the shoulder and offered him something. "My business card."

"We do everything?" Keima quoted from the card, oddly enough looking just as dingy as its owner. "For the right price. C'mon, girls." He beckoned to the two Sekirei, also on their feet. Hibiki bowed and offered a thanks and an apology, while Hikari just uttered a word of thanks. The three strode off, Seo lazily waving a hand in good-bye and saying "Thanks for the food, kid!"

Musubi waved back until they were out of sight, and then turned to her Ashikabi. "So what now?" Keima laid Seo`s card and MBI`s card next to each other on the diner table, noting that where was even a contrast in how the thin strip of plastic looked vastly superior and of higher class (as classy as a strip of plastic could be, anyway) compared to the faded paper with Seo's phone number.

"Is there anything else I should know, Musubi? You've heard the.." Keima refused to use the man's first name, because that would indicate some respect. "Professor, and now Seo." Musubi didn't look up from her food, offering something quite unexpected. "Oh, nothing for now. I'll tell you things when you need to know." It was said with no ill intent in mind, but Musubi waving the matter aside with such a vague answer was.. off-putting. Keima attempted to push a bit further.

"Well if there's anything I need to know now.. anything at all.." Keima attempted to be as calm as possible, but he stressed this particular sentence very, very much. If he was going to enter a secret tournament, the last thing he'd want to do is go into it blind. Musubi then had a sudden burst of insight.

"Ah! Sekirei are named after birds!"

*WHACK*

"I KNEW THAT!" Keima shouted, whacking Musubi on the head with a karate chop, and another, and another.

"Uuuuuu.. Keima-sama.." Musubi held her hands on top of her head to soften Keima's blows (which, as anybody who've experienced it in the past could tell you, is pathetically weak.) However, this didn't stop her eyes from forming into big globes with tears forming in the corners as she comically whimpered.

"…." He couldn't tell why, but he actually felt bad now. Waving a server over, he asked..

"Do you want something else to eat, Musubi?"

Immediately, she shot off rapid orders in quick succession. "Ah! Well, I have wanted to try the cheesecake, the pie, the frozen yogurt.." leaving the shocked waiter to scramble on their self for a pen and paper to write down Musubi's numerous requests.

.. Hold on, did he just get tricked? Looking at Musubi, who was now starting on a dish comprised of some sort of baked dessert (he honestly didn't have enough time to figure out what it was before she ate it,) she didn't seem like she was the type of person to demonstrate such coyness. No, it was that her love of food made her aggressive. Or so he hoped.

Hidden agendas aside, the fact that an alien race that had superpowers due to love was named 'Sekirei' was not lost on Keima. Having garnered an impressive knowledge of world history from historical and fantasy-based games alike, he knew of the significance of the 'wagtail,' which was the direct translation of Sekirei. The bird played in a role in Japanese legends of old concerning the heavenly deities Izanagi and Izanami, a couple who was said to create many of the islands of Japan. Izanagi and Izanami encountered a pair of wagtails fawning over each other, cooing and nuzzling each other lovingly. It is by encountering these birds that Izanagi and Izanami decided to imitate the birds, having been so delighted by seeing them: And so, the act of love was created-

"Ah, no, actually, the story goes that the pair encountered the birds actually mating, which they decided to copy." Musubi corrected him between bites of a superb mixed-berry pie.

"Ah, that's right. I suppose it's more romantic to view it as simply- Wait_, What_?" Keima said.

"What?" Musubi replied.

"This pie is delicious!" She added.

*WHACK*

"Uuuggyyuuu.." She was back into curling up into a ball, which was still a mixture of heart-rending and adorable, but Keima held back no blows this time.

"How'd you do that?" Keima was having a monologue, and he was pretty sure monologues were not meant to be said out loud.

"Dooo whhattt, Keima-samaa?..." What, so she wasn't aware of it? There was no way that that wasn't suspicious- with such perfect timing, Keima was beginning to think that Sekirei could read minds. Keima stared at Musubi's cowering figure, hoping his eyesight could drill right into her soul, to lay out her personality bare and figure out what made a Sekirei tick- these last few moments were serving to cast doubt on Musubi's seemingly straightforward behaviour, and.. well, the naïve ones were always the ones with something to hide, right? Or.. at least.. in games.. or was that also applicable to the real world?

But alas, after a moment of thought he merely waved the matter away for future observation.

"Never mind. Keep eating." She obediently obeyed with gusto. After a very long sigh of which only the oldest, wisest members of the human race on their deathbed could use, Keima turned his attention to another matter that nagged at his mind: the MBI credit card.

Why was Seo so wary of it? Would it be that MBI would one day dump the deed of paying off the bills of the card in one's lap if they did something out of line? He began regretting his act of renewing his hotel suite, and Keima's planned costs for his upcoming shopping trip would far outweigh a mere four-star hotel in the middle of the city.

But then the flow of his logic was interrupted by a sudden realization: the only reason Keima would worry about MBI is if he didn't play by the 'professor's' rules. Was he already beginning to plan out an act of anarchy against this game of his?

By all means, Keima's usual actions would be to simply play out this game as quickly and flawlessly as possible, and resume his normal- ah, damn it all, Keima knew that things would never play out as simply as that. Still, plans for the future ahead, he still had to worry about the now. Would he really risk being in the position where he'd be neatly snug under the heel of the shadowy, world-spanning conglomerate that was MBI, or would he fully indulge in splurging?

Musubi finished off the last of her desert with a satisfied sigh, stacking the numerous plates neatly together. "Musubi." Keima piped up.

"Ah, yes, Keima-sama?"

"Remember what I say, okay?.."

============== Loading ================

If Musubi didn't know Keima Katsuragi liked games, well, she did now. Heaving an impossibly large bag of video game goods on her back (which, although oversized and attracting the attention of many a passers-by, didn't register on Keima's normality radar one bit,) she found herself straining to keep up with Keima's glowing figure as he hovered above the streets and flew from one place to another.

And this wasn't hyperbole, either. He was actually hovering, and he actually flew- The powers of the capturing god knew no bounds. That was good, though. Musubi was worried about Keima for a bit, but now he had seemed to completely cheer up once he had started on his shopping spree.

Ok, so Musubi still didn't understand why Keima was so addicted to video games, but in all fairness, nobody did. And as Musubi recalled the argument they had once they first met, she was convinced that although their opinions about love were.. different, Keima had proven himself to be a man who loved dearly, and Musubi could ask no more from her Ashikabi.

"Keima-sama, wait up!" Musubi found herself rapidly falling behind the eager teenager. But before she knew it, Keima had rounded a corner and reached possibly supersonic speed. She laughed. He really was something, wasn't he?

"Gamesgamesgamesgamesgamesgam es…"

*CRASH!*

Keima had unceremoniously crashed into another person. "Gammmeess.." Keima sputtered out.

"The hell you going on about?.." The second victim of this accident rubbed his head. He shifted his red cap, and put his grey hood back on. He looked particularly fierce, and Keima, not wanting to get caught up with a potential delinquent, did what he did when he needed to fake courtesies in the real world. Say it with a robotic voice and get the heck out of there. It wasn't very tactful, but frankly it was a miracle Keima used manners at all.

"Well-I-am-sorry-for-running-into-you."

It wasn't that he was rude, it was just that he found manners a complete waste of time when he could simply run away from the situation and get on with playing his games. Of course, everybody else still thought otherwise, and so Keima found himself held by the collar of his shirt as he made a break for it. He comically tried to keep running as the delinquent held on.

"That's the worst apology I've ever heard.." Keima couldn't make out his age, but it was apparent that he wouldn't care about any age difference if he wanted to punch Keima in the face. However, the man then simply let him go, muttering "Just watch where you're going." After he disappeared into the crowd, Keima's shock subsided, and he moved unto priority number one again.

"Gamesgamesgamesgamesgames.." He shot off as he sped down the streets of Shin Tokyo.

Somewhere near and yet somewhere far, before she knew it, Musubi had completely lost track of Keima. She actually stopped for a bit to catch her breath, having dashed through endless intersections and side alleys all in search of her overeager Ashikabi. And this was a woman who could easily beat top athletes in their respective sports- but then again, capturing gods and athletes were on a different level. Alas, she had no luck in finding him, and she found herself on the corner of St. Nowhere and Somewhere Ave. Before she could run off once again in pursuit of Keima, however..

"Musubi." A voice appeared out of nowhere. Calm, soothing, and familiar to Musubi, she looked everywhere for the source of the voice, but to no avail. The voice was gentle, egging Musubi on in a friendly, joking manner. "Calm down, look in every direction."

Left. Right. Ahead of her? Behind of her?

"One more direction to go.." The owner of the voice was always amused at how Musubi was. Quite refreshing, really, compared to how serious and/or violent some Sekirei were. And for a race that were so influenced by love, there happened to be quite the number with.. personality quirks that was sure to spice up any relationship.

She looked down.

"Up, Musubi." A small chuckle accompanied these words.

"Ah, Homura!" Musubi chimed, her head so high that she was in danger of falling backwards. The person, or rather Sekirei she was talking to stood on top of a ledge of an abandoned building, managing to blend in enough to avoid any passerby's wandering gaze.

Clad in a very simple but elegant black coat, the cool, calm and collected Homura was a unique Sekirei in that he had taken up the mantle of protecting Sekirei that haven't been winged, shielding them from potential dangers such as the pair of twins that had been causing a lot of trouble lately. Also, in a related note, he was special in the fact that he was a 'he.' There were male Sekirei, but the female population far outweighed the male.

"I notice you've been winged." The voice was muffled by a black mask that covered his mouth, but it was audible nonetheless.

"Hmm-hmm! He's kind, and smart, and a bit weird," Musubi said, "but kind." This second 'kind' mattered all the world to Musubi. Still, Homura was particularly wary of Musubi, as her endearing personality was also what worried him just the slightest. And about the Ashikabi, well..

"He left you the first time." Apparently, Homura hadn't missed a tick about the goings-on in Musubi's life. But that was to be expected, considering she had an encounter with the twins, who were becoming thorns in Homura's side. In fact, he had seeked them out afterwards and taught them a little lesson- They wouldn't be bothering any other unwinged Sekirei anytime soon.

Musubi nodded.

"But he came back."

"But he came back, yes." Homura lingered. He would to like to leave her in the hands of a capable Ashikabi, but to be honest? He didn't feel like the boy he saw was fit to be a good Ashikabi. Aside from being a bit young, Musubi's description of "weird" was very, very understated. "I'm curious to know when you decided he would make for a good Ashikabi."

"Ah, when he saved me again from those mean twins.. He was even ready to fight for me!" She paused. "I'm sad, though, that I couldn't protect him. We only got away by luck." She looked a bit sheepish, having suffered a double blow: the opportunity for a good fight, which Musubi lived for, and the fact that she couldn't protect Keima, who she would gladly give up her life for.

Homura blinked. He hadn't heard about this second incident. He felt a bit frustrated, considering the amount of Sekirei that needed protection spread out around the city and how hard he worked to protect them all. Still, if the kid risked his neck for her..

"Then I'm happy for you, Musubi."

"mmm-hmm!" She beamed. "You should hurry and find your own Ashikabi too, Homura! Find your own warmth and fuzzy and lovey-dovey feelings-" Kagari stopped her mid-sentence, sounding a bit conflicted, to say the least.

"Right, but my main priority is protecting unwinged Sekirei." Abruptly, He swiftly jumped unto another rooftop, but not before offering, "I'll see you later." Musubi waved good-bye as the figure leaped from one building to another.

"See ya!"

She set off at a brisk pace once again, only to suffer the same fate as her Ashikabi when it came to blindly running in the streets. The deity of fate sure favoured Musubi; it hadn't even been a full minute until she ran into somebody.

"Kyah!" "Ahh!" The two women struck each other in the head, simultaneously falling to the ground. The bundle of games was mostly unharmed, but Musubi was a bit dazed until a helping hand helped her up.

"Ah, sorry, I was preoccupied with something.." The voice was inviting and easy-going, and Musubi found herself staring into the navy blue eyes of a blond-haired girl. Musubi patted the dust off herself, voice chipper. "Oh, no problem. I was kinda in a rush, so I should've looked where I was going-" Hold on.

"_If we get separated, and you encounter anyone suspicious, try to memorize what they looked like." _Keima's words from earlier rang in her mind.

Musubi's gaze suddenly turned fierce towards the young girl, and if there were glares sharp as daggers, then Musubi had a gaze sharp as a chainsaw. She leaned in towards the girl, who crumbled underneath the Sekirei's intense gaze. She was even giving off sound effects.

"CHUUUUUU…" muttered Musubi, the onomonopia for staring being said under her breath. She was beginning to lean way too close for the girl's liking, Musubi far into her comfort zone.

"Are.. you by any chance a Sekirei?"

"I- wait, what?" She leapt back in order to get some space; Musubi stepped in time with her, managing to not only close the gap but to actually get in some extra distance, peering in closer to the poor girl's face, close enough that their noses were almost touching. The girl was convinced that Musubi was a Sekirei, if the question and her speed were anything to go by. However, Musubi didn't make any other movements, simply giving her that intense glare.

… A minute or two passed.

"Uh, er, is this the part where we fight? This is my first fight, and.."

"CHUUUUU.." Before long, she had burned the Sekirei's image straight into her eyes.

But Musubi wondered if such a description would satisfy Keima. Perhaps it was time to take a page out of his book. However, said book was not light reading material, but a tome with the contents the size of a library. If visual descriptions were one thing, personality traits would be another to a gamer like Keima, right? "If you were to describe yourself, what would you say?" She didn't mean to sound intimidating, but at that proximity, one could ask what the weather was like and still appear to be a serial killer.

The girl wasn't expecting to be put on an interview on the spot; after a moment of stuttering and mumbling, she began to honestly just blurt out whatever formed in her mind.

"Old-fashioned. Sharp-dressed. Thinkative. Philosophical. Elegant?" That last trait seemed a bit arrogant in her opinion, one of those words wasn't even real, and her limited vocabulary had been depleted by stress. "Er.. Female."

"Female." Musubi repeated. And in the blink of an eye, Musubi leapt back, having reverted back to her casual self. "Well, Ok! sounds good to me!" The girl actually stumbled back a step, startled by the wind that blew to Musubi's whims when she moved backwards; the grace and speed of which Musubi demonstrated was flawless, an act that would surely impress most Sekirei.

"Wha- OK?" The girl was torn at what to expect anymore. "We're not gonna fight or anything?" Musubi gave her a quizzical look. "You're not winged yet! We can't fight if you're not winged." The Sekirei instinctively reached for her back, where a crest would form when a contract was made with an Ashikabi. They had been facing each other this whole time; how did she notice?

"Ah! Keima!" Musubi had just realized that she spent quite too much time attempting to analyze the Sekirei she had just met, and before the other girl could even raise a finger, Musubi demonstrated once again her uncanny physical prowess, dashing off in the other direction.

"I, uh, what- what the hell?.." The poor girl was left to reflect on what the hell just happened.

============== Loading ================

Musubi and Keima, oddly enough, reunited in a video game store. Her eyesight was particularly impressive, and she scanned the many windows and storefronts that lined the streets until she found her Ashikabi standing still for the first time since they went out on their trip.

He was playing a game on one of the store's demo consoles, all trace of the hyperactive floating deity gone from his system (or repressed, anyway.)

Before Musubi could even say hello, more piles of games, consoles, and what appeared to be half of the contents in the store they were in were piled unto her arms. It became such a mountain that you couldn't see her face- merely the plastic smiles of a heroine on a game cover. And it wasn't as if she would complain: for one, this wasn't even close to being a burden to Musubi's strength, as she carried the bundle with ease (if not with encountering some difficulty in how she walked.)

It was quite the comedic moment as Musubi almost waddled alongside Keima as they walked on through the streets, with Musubi carrying the burden that 10 men themselves couldn't carry on both her back and in her arms. They had managed to make their way to the far suburbs, the bustling city giving way to the moderately peaceful streets which winded their ways over hills and bridges and past numerous houses, with the sun now beginning to dip over the horizon.

And so it was the perfect moment that Keima chose to speak.

"Musubi." Musubi attempted to neck her head around the pile in her arms, but to no avail. She could only see out of the corner of her eye, seeing the form of Keima's fuzzy profile, PFP ever in his hands.

"Yes, Keima-sama?"

"I'm sorry." She immediately stopped walking; he didn't. He was right in front of her now, completely obscured by her luggage.

"For leaving before, I mean." There was something to his voice, but Musubi couldn't figure it out, not without looking at his face, and that meant dropping the purchases. "Do you want a hug?" she offered. Keima immediately screamed out "NO!" in response. He coughed, and then added, "The games. Protect the games."

Still, she wanted to at least see his eyes. She rather liked how.. intense they were. Intense, but not enough so that it would be callous or harsh, despite Keima's usual behaviour. She had seen a softer side of Keima, and those eyes still sparkled with such strength, as if all he could see was her and nothing else in the world.

Oh, she really wanted to hug him. That was another thing she liked about him, too. He was young and skinny and the way he looked all stern made Musubi want to hug Keima till something broke, like hugging a grumpy puppy with glasses.

"It's fine, really. You came back!" She tried to reassure him, but Keima still sounded off. "Yeah, well.." He exhaled a long breath, having pondered about something he didn't manage to say earlier. To be honest, it was stuck in his mind for a great part of the day. He didn't say this particular sentence because he didn't have the nerve to, but what was different here was that it wasn't because he was trying to convince Musubi, but himself.

He looked off to the side and scratched one cheek, an awkward little tic he had. Musubi shuddered, sensing she was missing an adorable trait of Keima's.

"I'll stay with you.. until this is over. I won't leave you."

A declaration of emotional attachment. And this was big for Keima, who had only spoken similar statements to other two women in the world; one being his mother, and one that wasn't actually a declaration per se as it was along the lines of "You're kinda useful."

Keima saw the Sekirei behind the pile of games almost vibrating for a second, and then unceremoniously, she dropped everything she was carrying and almost tackled Keima, attempting to kiss and love and essentially smother Keima to death. He desperately held her back, but found himself locked in Musubi's embrace, his arms pinned to his sides. "Ah, get off me- it's nothing- get off!" He was lucky he was tall for his age, lest he find himself smothered in another way by Musubi. And despite legions of teenage boys who would've killed to be in his position, Keima simply worried for the various games and items littered throughout the street. "The games, Musubi- they might be damaged-" Keima cried to no avail, as Musubi kept attempting to kiss Keima on the lips. He managed to wriggle away just enough so that every smooch was on his cheeks, but It still served to fluster Keima more and more as he found himself regretting the words he said.

And at last, she managed to embrace him fully, lips meeting his and her arms wrapped around his back. He immediately stopped struggling, and for better or for worse, settled into the kiss. He wasn't sure how long it lasted, but he registered when Musubi finally let him go, giggling like a little schoolgirl.

"I forgot," she tittered. "The words."

"The words?"

"Mmmhmm, that I'd love you, protect you, be with you.." Keima wondered what exactly made this statement special. He could tell, though, by how much she treated these memorized words with reverence, though, that it mattered greatly to her.

"Forever and ever." Musubi nuzzled herself into Keima's body again, the warmth from her words seeping into Keima's chest.

"Forever." Keima repeated. So there was the kicker. Keima wasn't sure how to react, and all the unpleasantness from yesterday arose. He pledged to stick it out until the end, didn't he? Forever didn't seem like it would be that bad. He dealt with forever before. And honestly, it didn't seem like that long ago.

"Forever and ever." Keima echoed, a bit more resolution in his words this time. He even managed to wriggle one arm out and pat Musubi on the back, although it was in a very uncomfortable angle. And so they stood in their lover's embrace, a half-awkward hug that carried no grace and no oomph compared to any passionate scene in any movie or book. It was almost romantic.

…..

"Wow."

Keima turned his head ever so slightly. Right next to the couple was a young lady in a belly top and a short pair of jeans, regarding the two with a mild interest. Keima felt himself boil up with shock and embarrassment.

"Never knew kids were so proactive these days." She sounded amused, at least. "And look at that! She's even older than you! Good job, bro!" She raised an enthusiastic thumbs-up in recognition of Keima's mad skills. Musubi had finally noticed the newcomer as well, letting go of Keima instantly and bowing in apology. "I'm sorry for the mess!"

"Ah, It's no problem, although I guess you should pick the stuff up.."

It all hit Keima then, poor boy. The contact, the intimacy, the feelings, and oh god, as the unknown lady took a step forward to talk with Musubi, the fact that his purchases was scattered all through the street. A bird was pecking at a nearby case; a mischievous group of kids was taking his games for their own, and his PFP-

*Crack*

"Ah, sorry, this yours?" The newcomer raised Keima's PFP, a hairline crack now visible on its screen.

"_AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGG GGG.."_

The woman reeled back in shock as Keima was beginning to break down. "Uh, he all right?"

Musubi scratched her head in confusion; it was something Keima had said earlier in an order of utmost importance. Since he was going crazy now, it must be… the thought evaded Musubi's grasp. What was it? A car drove by while she thought on, every fracture and break audible as numerous games and products alike were run over. Musubi then slammed her fist down into her palm like a gavel, having figured it out. "Ah! I remember now, he said 'Don't break the games!'"

"_-RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG-…"_ Keima screamed in the background. He wasn't going to stop until he blacked out or he died, and his loud voice, along with his unhealthy trait of shaking uncontrollably, was a good indicator that death was entirely feasible.

"Seriously, guy, are you all right-" She turned to Musubi. "Shouldn't we call an ambulance?"

Musubi shrugged. "He's like that; I don't think we can do anything about it until he stops."

"…_**-GGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH-…."**_

(So!)

Keima woke up.

"What a familiar ceiling," he thought.

It was odd that his brain, although addled and confused still, would attempt to register the familiarity of the roof above him instead of say, his physical health or, even more importantly, the status of his purchases. And it wasn't even a familiar ceiling, he knew this. But he had seen so much walls and décor and furnishings in his lifetime that everything seemed to be the same room, simply disassembled and reorganized like set pieces from his mind. And what was interesting was that normally this feeling of déjà vu wasn't just limited to Keima; basically, this feeling of familiarity was available to anyone who had accumulated enough life experience. But where others might've registered this room as familiar, Keima would acknowledge it as "recycled," as if he could see the very particles that made up the room, and they were merely the same patterns with different palettes, like a pixelated game of old where the only difference between the sky and the ground was a mere blot in the repeating-

"Uh, kid?" He turned his head just a fraction, the woman who caused his meltdown staring at him nervously. "You.. uh.. conscious?" Keima had had his eyes open and fixed on the ceiling for quite some time now during his musings, making her believe that he might've spontaneously woken up and died at the same time. Another tilt of the head revealed his loot bought throughout the day stacked up all around him, games, bags, boxes all aligned in a bizarre shrine to the god who currently lay atop a futon.

"Yeah."

She gave off an audible sigh of relief. "Good, I kinda thought you'd died." Her voice carried a smoothness and confidence to it, but it was not hard to notice the ever-so-slightly present note of worry. "Cause, you know, you were staring at the ceiling for a while, and that was pretty creepy. Might've thought you were staring up into heaven.." She gave off a laugh, which she thought was easy-going, but in reality was pretty forced, and Keima picked up on that. And she picked up on Keima picking up on that, so her laugh ended in a nervous sputter not unlike a failed attempt at starting up a car.

"Where am I?"

"I, uh, live here. Izumo Inn. Not far from where you fainted." The name was foreign to Keima, but it began to stir something in his head. "After you collapsed, I told your girlfriend that you and her could crash here, just till you get on your feet." She thought back on that moment. "Pretty impressive, the way she was carrying you and all these.." her eyes wandered around the room, filled to the brim with bags and boxes. "stuff."

"Girlfriend." Keima parroted, noting Seo had also used that term. He supposed he really couldn't deny that, as there was no easier way to describe (or rather, lie) about his circumstances to anybody, but it was still odd to hear such a term associated with himself.

"Yep." She made no move to correct herself. "Listen, just rest here, alright? I'll go get her." She strided off, leaving Keima to his thoughts. He noticed that his PFP, the one which suffered a war injury, was beside the futon- he picked it up, gave it an once-over, traced the thin crack with a finger, then laid it down. He honestly felt compelled to hold a service for the console, but there would be other times for eulogies.

"Izumo Inn." The words rolled off his tongue. He got up, navigating the labyrinth made by his purchases, winding his way through until he came across the exit. Looking behind him, Keima realized he wasn't in a bedroom, but rather what appeared to be a large living room outlooking a garden; honestly, he couldn't tell with the mountains and hills of discs and cartridges clogging up the area. It was dark now, and although the stars weren't out yet, the moon managed to bathe the spacious garden, styled with a traditional Japanese theme in mind, just as the whole place was. Keima could actually appreciate good architecture and interior designs; backgrounds were always essential in design.. in games.

"Ah, Keima-sama?" Musubi was on the other side of the 'retailed valley,' her voice barely audible. "Here, Musubi." He answered. He waited until she managed to make her way through the maze herself (a few crashes and the sight of a tower toppling made Keima wince, however) and plant herself right next to the boy. The two merely admired the sight in front of them, listening to the gentle sounds of nature; the suburbs were quiet.

Keima honestly thought background music would make this better.

"So." Musubi clapped her hands together, and turned towards Keima. Her normally radiant self was even, if possible, brighter than ever, and she was almost aggressively nice to Keima. "Today was nice, hmm?" She wasn't implying anything, but the tender moment from before Keima blacked out was still on her mind. Keima was trying to push said moment out of his mind.

"I suppose." Keima's tone was attempting to be flat and emotionless as Musubi was cheerful; however, his face had reddened just a shade, and he tried awfully hard not to make eye contact. If Musubi noticed, she didn't push any further- she didn't say anything, merely content to look upon his face. After a while, however, she decided to initiate conversation, if not just to get Keima talking.

"Today was a long day, huh?"

"Yep." Not exactly an answer that would properly carry on a conversation, but the capturing god was not one for idle talk. However, the sentence was _very_ true, now that he had time to think about it. Just yesterday, the only things he worried about was if he could afford a game for the train ride back home, and within the span of a little under 24 hours, he had encountered Musubi, got involved with a fight with two Sekirei, and then saved her the next day in the early morning, which made him get involved with another fight with the same two Sekirei- that then lead to the meeting with the professor, and then the shopping trip that took up the rest of the day. Such lightning quick development; if only the rest of the Sekirei Plan could go this fast.

"Anything happen while we split up?" He asked Musubi latched onto the specific word 'split,' and she began to pout just a little, puffing her cheeks out. "Uuu.. I thought so.. So you left me on purpose.." Keima didn't bother to correct her, but his response wasn't satisfying, either. "I have no idea what you mean."

With an 'hmmph!' Musubi turned her head away from Keima, who was beginning to (slightly) enjoy teasing her. "So _did_ anything happen?" she replied once again with an grunt, although it was more haughty than anything, so Keima knew he didn't a commit a serious offense. He wasn't fazed by this passive-aggressiveness (as Musubi managed to make even cold responses adorable;) he knew exactly how to counter her pouty mood. He simply inched closer towards her, leaned into her ears, and with a gentle voice, asked ever-so-nicely, "Please?"

As expected, she turned around and happily looped her arm with hers, laying her head against his shoulder. "Well, if you ask so nicely~!" Keima felt his body jerk in response with the human contact; during the last two days he had encountered more skinship than he had in his entire life, and to be honest? That was actually quite impressive. At least there wouldn't be as much kissing this time around, he hoped..

"I did meet somebody." She excluded Homura because he didn't fall under the category of suspicious, as she knew him for quite some time. "I bumped unto her on the street- she was definitely a Sekirei." She closed her eyes in thought, recalling the list of traits that she had worked very hard to memorize.

"She says she was old-fashioned. Sharp-dressed. Thinkative. Philosophical. Female."

Keima nodded his head in approval. Those traits would definitely be easy to pick up from somebody with enough conversation, and that was a wise move on Musubi's part. Well, somewhat. He wasn't sure if 'thinkative' and 'female' were errors on Musubi's half, but satisfactory nonetheless. He wouldn't go ahead and congratulate her just yet, but he did give her a pat on the head with his free hand, which made her almost-dog like inhibitions rise up, and she sat there happily accepting praise.

"Ah, so nice, so nice.." She said, more to herself than to Keima.

"You deserve it." Keima said, egging Musubi on. He petted her for some time, and when she last expected it..

"And what did she look like?" he asked innocently.

"I forgot!" she happily chirped.

"YOOUUUUUUU!"

Keima had got behind Musubi, and began to squeeze Musubi's cheeks apart like putty, distorting her words as she began her sob routine. "Buuut Keiimma-Sammaa.." she attempted to pry his hands off, but apparently when it came to Keima, all her strength was depleted. "You're lucky you mentioned she was female, or else I would've thought it could have been a guy!" "Buut shee didn't look like a guuuyy…" After a while, Keima had tired of fondly abusing Musubi, and he rested his head atop hers, his hands simply limping over her shoulders. "Another Sekirei, huh."

Musubi rubbed her cheeks, making sure Keima hadn't deformed them in some way. "Yep. Pretty lucky that I walked into one when we were out, huh?"

Keima relaxed, just a little. "Yeah, well, there was always the chance of a few chance encounters." His voice had changed from his casual tone to his serious contemplating one, and while Musubi admittingly couldn't offer a lengthy discussion when it came to Keima's unique view of the world, but she could offer some banter, at least. "There were a lot of people out today, though. I don't think all of them are Sekirei or Ashikabi."

"Every character has flags." Keima stopped, apparently having stumbled across a thought of great interest during his musings.

"Or at least, the potential to. Even background characters, with enough fan interest, can be upgraded to a main heroine in a sequel. Characters that you seemingly meet once can be hidden heroines or important to the story later on. No matter how inconsequential they are, if they're in the background or in the beginning; no matter how boring or non-existent their personality might be-" Keima stopped short of finishing his lecture again, threading far too close to familiar memories. Uncomfortable ones.

"Anyway," he continued on, but at a noticeably slower pace, "even in the real world, where there are substantially a lot more people, who, ultimately aren't related to the main story, the fact is that with 108 Sekirei, and that all of them are in Shin Tokyo, you can wander around for a day and inevitably encounter either an Ashikabi or a Sekirei, like you did. It's just a matter of identifying if they are actually a person of interest." With the Sekirei he'd encountered so far, Keima supposed all the Sekirei would be easy to pick out from a crowd. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing yet.

Musubi stared at him with such intent that she was like a student soaking up all the information she could from her wise teacher.

"I don't get it." Keima resisted the urge to facepalm.

"It's like the literary device named the 'Chekov's Gun' in books, where if an item- or a person, in this case- appears in detail, there's a good chance it'll be involved with the story. That make sense?"

Musubi pondered over this for a second, and then she clapped her hands together and gave off her usual cheery smile, having come to another of her thoughtful conclusions.

"I don't read books!"

*THUMP*

Keima had opted for a more subtle motion of slamming his face into the nearest wall. Musubi giggled. So did Uzume, although hers was akin to an old lady admiring a young couple's antics.

"Heh. " Uzume said, sipping a cup of alcohol. "You two make a good couple." She had managed to navigate the mountains of store-bought goods and plant herself on Keima's free side completely unnoticed, looking upon Keima and Musubi with fondness in her eyes. Keima was almost thrown off by them, noticing how melancholy she was at that moment. Musubi beamed with pride from the compliment. "Hmm-hmm! We'll be together forever and ever!" Perhaps it was something you might expect to be said from a child, but from Musubi's lips the statement was infinitely more serious.

She raised her glass towards Keima. "You better be prepared to take care of her forever and ever then, kid." Her tone was solemn, which was possibly more serious than the word 'serious' itself. In one go, she drained the crystal of its contents and nodded towards another room. "Miya- I mean, the landlady wants to check up on ya. Make sure you're not injured or anything, but by the way you two are flirting, I'd say you're all right, eh?" She heartily clapped Keima's back, and her strength, while definitely not on par with Musubi's, was still enough to sting Keima's back a bit. He stood up, and Musubi followed, but he shook his head. "I'll be quick- I'll say thanks, then we can pick up our stuff and call a cab." Musubi nodded, leaving Uzume and Keima to wander around the inn. However, before they could reach the landlady, they met somebody else trudging their way up some stairs..

"Ah, Kagari!"

Had Musubi not mentioned the unknown Sekerei's gender, Keima would've thought this man would've fit "sharp-dressed" and "elegant" to the letter. Wearing a simple pair of black dress pants and a well-fit dress shirt neatly buttoned up, the grey haired man in front of Keima was definitely attractive, enough so to be considered good-looking by both women and men alike, with a thin frame, oval face, and stylish grey hair.

"This here's Kagari- he works as a host. He's also one of the tenants of this inn. One of the only tenants, when I think about it. Always rooms for rent here," Uzume said, attempting to organize something in her brain. "This guy's.. uh.. Kat-su-ragi Kei-ma, right?" Come to think of it, he actually never said his name; he supposed Musubi had done the introductions. Kagari shuffled a few steps toward Keima, and both Kagari's and Keima's faces were impassive as they shook hands-

"HRK!"

Keima found himself- oh, no. He was blushing. What was going on?!

He couldn't look at the man without feeling flustered, blustered, or any other word with the same meaning. Uzume looked at him curiously, and Kagari narrowed his eyes. "Where exactly did you meet this guy?" Uzume opened her mouth, unsure how to describe their first meeting. "I, uh, found him.. unconscious with his girlfriend watching over him. Picked the two of them up to rest here for a bit." Kagari regarded Keima with a look of suspicion, but that quickly gave way to the common salaryman's look of a tired day of work gone past. "Well, hope you feel better. Uzume." He nodded towards her, and went up the flight of stairs to his room.

Keima picked up on none of that, for he was panicking.

"I can't- What the- Why am I so nervous?!" He couldn't even respond, hand still out even after the handshake was over. Even Uzume had noticed, and her lips curled upwards in a smile. Keima seemed staunch, so perhaps it was time to push his buttons a little. "Oh, so your door swings that way, huh? Even with Musubi at your side.."

"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Keima shouted, far, far too loud. He clapped his hands over his mouth, realizing what a state of panic he was in. Attracted? ATTRACTED? NO, **NO**,_** NO**_! The emissary of the digital world lured in by love of a three dimensional **MAN**, of all things?! He almost began to break down again, but he attempted to quell the surges of shock with what little logic he was able to conjure up.

"No- he is kind of bishonen," quoting the term used to describe men that.. 'whose beauty transcends gender.'

"So- oh no- a aftereffect from dealing with Yui?!"

You see, once upon a time, Keima came across a girl named Yui, and in events far too outlandish to describe in a few mere sentences, they switched bodies. Yui, in Keima's male body, was still attracted to Keima nonetheless, which made to confuse Keima on the topic of gender bias for a very long time. Even after the body switch was over, Keima, who could mostly resist any woman's comings-on, easily crumbled in close proximity with Yui, back in her body but who had noticeably adopting more.. boyish traits, such as wearing her school's male uniform.

Backstory aside, what mattered was that Kagari apparently fell into the same territory as Yui did and so Keima reacted like a schoolgirl with a schoolyard crush, unable even to get one word out of his mouth and have his face flare up like the sun.

"… Do you need to lie down again, bro?" Uzume had tried to get one joking jab in, as she knew full well that there were a lot of people, male or female, who would react in the same way when dealing with Kagari. However, she didn't expect Keima to start shuddering as if he encountered the grim reaper himself. She honestly thought he was ready to start screaming again.

"No.." he said, although it took all his willpower to sound normal again. "Continue on." The two continued on.

She led on in front of Keima as she gave him a tour of the inn, sounding much like a realtor as she mentioned the large bath, the wide rooms. Turning a corner, her hair parted just enough so that Keima could see-

"A tattoo?" Her shirt's neck was low enough for him to see just a glimpse of it, and he couldn't tell what 'it' was. However, it looked.. oddly familiar, and 'familiar' was always something that could linger on Keima's mind. Familiar meant coincidence, and coincidences were normally not so. Uzume seemed embarrassed by it, covering it up. Eager to get away from that topic (was she embarrassed by it?) she led Keima through a door. "Ah, here she is!"

He wasn't sure which room it was, but the view from the window was still quite nice, the moon peeking at them from the corner. A lady of undeterminable age sat at a table, sipping tea from a simple clay cup. "Ah, so here's our visitor. And here I thought you two got lost." She smiled towards Uzume, who actually jostled a bit, as if that gentle statement took form in the shape of a sword. "Ah, well, just thought I'd show him around. Katsuragi, this here's Asama Miya, the landlady."

Miss Asama's voice resonated with a gentle hum, most definitely the type of reassuring warmth that a mother or perhaps a wise teacher could carry. If she were a voice actor, she would most definitely fit any elder-type role well. And if her voice suited a landlady, the humble attire that she worn was also fitting; in the same vein of Musubi's miko clothing, but as proper miko attire, complete with sash-like belt, long flowing purple hakama, a snow white haori, and a sash-like belt that tied the outfit together in a deeper shade of purple.

Keima found himself speaking earnestly and as politely as humanly possible, which only one other person in the world- his mother - could command from him. He wasn't sure if he was happy about this or alarmed by it.

"Uh, well, I just wanted to say thank you for all that you've done, letting me and-" He was still hesitant to use this word, but he had no choice, did he- "my girlfriend rest here. I'll make sure to leave soon and not bother you any further."

"Are you sure? I was going to prepare dinner for you and Musubi; I admit that I didn't expect you to already be up, the way Uzume described you."

Uzume smiled earnestly and shrugged, but accompanying that shrug of the shoulders was the slightest of twitches. It wasn't too alarming, but it was the second of nervous motions that Keima had seen her do around the landlady- was she intimidated by her? "Er, it's a nice thought, but we really should be leaving." He bowed, and made straight away to leave the room, but then-

"…."

"Excuse me for a second- I don't want to be rude, but I was just wondering who was this.." He noticed it out the corner of his eye, and honestly he could not place why it caught his attention so; He picked up a picture frame, its contents that being of a faded old photograph of what was most undoubtedly the landlady when she was younger, although oddly enough she was wearing the exact same outfit as she was wearing now. She was shoulder-to-shoulder with a man whose wild white hair (involuntary twitch from Keima) covered his eyes. His outfit consisted of sweatpants and a turtleneck sweater underneath laboratory coat that managed to look quite casual despite it being a lab coat.

"Ah, my husband." She stood up and took the frame from his hands, holding it just as Keima did with his PFP- with great love and fondness. "I'm afraid he isn't in this world any longer, bless him." Her smile stayed the same, but her eyes were clearly looking upon happier times. They were also a startling shade of purple, far deeper than the rest of her outfit.

"Sorry if I brought up any bad memories." She waved the matter away, setting the picture down on the table. "The front door's unlocked; I hope you two get home safely. Uzume, if you could help me with the cooking?" Uzume waved a hand in good-bye, and the two left the room. Keima looked around for a bit, nervously shuffling his feet in place, and then finally set off to backtrack his route.

He navigated the hallways, bathed in moonlight, and he ran a hand along the walls, as if the bumps along the walls managed to align themselves in neat little rows of braille, so that they may tell their story of the goings on in the place known as Izumo Inn. Something was beginning to bug young Keima Katsuragi..

"Ah, Keima-sama!" Before he knew it, he had already made it back to his starting point, Musubi still perched on the edge of the porch. "So, we're leaving now?" she asked. Keima didn't respond, standing right next to her and working out his own thought. Something was bothering him, and Musubi was attentive as any wall to bounce thoughts off of.

"Do you like this place, Musubi?"

Musubi nodded her head. "The landlady and Uzume-san are nice. The house is quite pretty, as well."

"Is that all you think of them? That they're nice?" Musubi looked genuinely confused by this. "Are.. they Sekirei?" Keima shrugged; he honestly hadn't a clue. "Well, maybe. I don't have any way to check aside from asking them directly. However, their characters themselves.. well, let me give you a little bit of advice, Musubi." His teacher-like authority came out once again, and Musubi was ready to receive the wise words of the Capturing God. "When it comes to people you meet," he started out smartly..

"If they seem mysterious.."

"They're probably mysterious."

"… In games." He added on.

He stared out into the distance with his arms crossed with a stern expression that Musubi couldn't answer straightaway even if she understood him or not.

"That being said, they don't seem that mysterious."

Logically, and he was using that term very sparsely, Uzume and Miya seemed to be people of interest. But realistically, all he had to go on to use that term was the fact that Uzume had a tattoo that he seemed to recognize and that Miya gave off an odd aura. By all means not very tangible proof for suspicion. And yet his gamer senses so finely attuned to people's personalities said that something was up in this house, and they had proven themselves to be accurate in the past. But Keima never acted just on feelings alone, and even if he acted without his usual methodical processes, there was always the off-chance that the oddities the pair were hiding was that maybe Uzume spent too much time at pachinko parlors and Miya was a closet otaku.

And so for the first time in a long time, Keima was left to act on only instinct.

Musubi looked around, hoping to find a marker or perhaps a banner that designated the inn as a place of interest. Keima had fully left her in the dust with his thought processes, leaving the poor Sekirei to work out his words on her own. And then it hit Keima.

"This place." Keima touched the wall gingerly. "It's where everything happens. Always gotta be a hub area."

Leaving Musubi to ponder his mysterious words, he immediately walked up and out of the room, and with a quicker speed than he had when he navigated the inn the first two times, confidently strided to where Miya and Uzume were beginning to eat their meals, and slammed his head unto the ground in a deep bow, on his knees and hands.

"MISS LANDLADY!" As he was facing the ground, he couldn't see Miya's face and thus gauge her reaction: Keima wouldn't believe any act would work on her anyway- He'd have to be direct with his words.

"I- NO, WE, ASK YOU TO ACCEPT OUR HUMBLE SELVES AS TENANTS OF THIS INN!"

A beat.

"Ara ara, how polite." Miya's expression never faltered, but she wasn't outright denying him, at least. "I have to admit, though, this is unexpected. I invite you two to stay for dinner, and you ask to rent a room here?" Keima's head was still touching the ground, so he could not gauge her reaction; making him all the more nervous. "Well, I've been looking for a place to live, actually, and Uzume mentioned there were rooms for rent here.."

He heard a light tapping noise; Miya held a soup ladle, tapping it against her chin in thought. "That is true. But I heard you're living a hotel that you can afford; speaking of affording, I don't take MBI cards, and Musubi said you were here on holiday, so I assume you don't have a job- oh, yes, and I believe you're underage, so I'm not sure if you could legally rent a room here?"

Erk. All very valid points, and so well thought out in so little time that Keima couldn't respond. However, Miya's voice was still airy and cheery as she lightly tapped him on the forehead with her ladle. He raised his head up, unsure of what to expect, and found Miya's expression lovely as ever. "But my husband was a firm believer in the idea of never turning anybody in need away. I'm sure we can think of something if you really want to live here so badly with Musubi."

… Really? Was it that simple? Keima couldn't believe all he had to do was simply ask-

"YYYYYAAAAYY!" Out of nowhere, Musubi had tailed him, and at the right moment grabbed unto Keima from behind and held him tightly to her chest in a victory hug, crushing his lungs, ribs, and possibly his very soul in the process. "WE HAVE A NEW PLACE TO LIVE!" She pranced around with Keima in her arms, unaware of the damage her deathly, bone-crushing hug caused. "Can't.. breathe.." he managed to choke out.

Miya turned towards Uzume. "I hope this won't be a problem, having such noisy neighbours." Uzume drily chuckled, although she wasn't annoyed by how these events turned out. "I'm just concerned that ya let two people you've known for, what, 10 minutes, take up free room and board here." Miya responded with light-hearted laughter of her own. "Ah, well, I don't intend him to live here on solely the pure-hearted intent of this kind landlady, you know." Uzume couldn't reply earnestly to that, and so Miya left her alone to admire the spectacle, setting off to grab utensils for Keima's and Musubi's dinner.

Meanwhile, Musubi had managed to let go of Keima, who immediately starting lecturing her on life-draining embraces, comically bopping her on the head while she winced in mock pain. Uzume merely watched on while nursing her drink. If the two didn't acknowledge they were a couple, she would have thought they were siblings, the way they naturally bickered with each other in that adorable way. However, something just clicked in her mind when the two sat down and Keima brought out his PFP, having been separated far too long from his analog heaven for his tastes.

"Oh, damn."

It was fairly obvious that Keima was more into video games than your average teenager, and Uzume had forgotten to warn him of pursuing his hobby so openly in Miya's sights. But ever-nearer footsteps had indicated Miya's presence, and, well, as Keima would say, when you started an event, it had to be played through to the end..

Miya arrived with plates and cutlery, and everybody began eating, save for Keima, who didn't start at all. "Ah, Keima-san. We're eating now, so it would be a show of bad manners if you played your game at the table.." While Musubi was as usual, sunshine and daisies while she dug unto the meal, Uzume had correctly sensed that something was going to occur. Indeed, she had started to inch towards the nearest exit.

"Sorry, but I gotta finish this." To Keima's credit, he was normally a lot more.. blunt, as to say, when it came to eating and his hobby. Or rather, he was normally downright rude and unyielding when it came to relinquishing his precious PFP. He thought that his 'polite' request would placate Miya, but..

"Now now, Keima-san, you have to learn to obey the rules here if you want to stay.." Even Musubi had noticed something in the air by now, but she had long been dragged out of danger by Uzume; Keima, however, immersed in his world of wide-eyed heroines and silent protagonists, wasn't aware of the impending horrors he was about to face..

"Keima." Miya was still acting friendly, but there was no mistaking the playful, deadly undertone in her voice. "Playing games are prohibited in Izumo Inn."

And then it struck. The indescribable horror that men claimed to be from the blackest pits of hell, while women believed it to be a deity of justice punishing men and women alike, innocent or not, in her path. They called it many names; the faces of the unloving, those-from-the-deepest-depths, and the eyes of the abyss: but everybody agreed on what particular form the blackness took. The masks.

"What the-" Keima merely sounded shocked at first, but that quickly gave way to a pure shriek of pure terror. "WHAT THE?!"

Uzume and Musubi had, by then, long vacated the premises.

"IT'S- IT'S TOO EARLY TO BE FIGHTING THE FINAL BOSS!" To the two, it had looked like Keima had quickly fallen to hysterics. And quite frankly, anybody would in the face of Miya's.. special ability, so to speak.

"NO, IT'S NOT EVEN THE FINAL BOSS! WHAT IS THIS, A SECRET SUPERBOSS?!" It wouldn't be long now until he was reduced to incoherent screaming. The fact that he had lasted this long was an impressive feat in itself- but alas, Uzume, the veteran of Miya's mental airstrikes, knew that he was an ant in a tornado, a pebble in a sandstorm. It did amuse her for a second to imagine Miya's face on, say, a giant dragon or a giant mechanical golem reserved for RPG bosses. And speaking of RPGs..

"X! X! WHERE'S THE ESCAPE BUTTON?!" He mashed the buttons on his PFP desperately, in danger of breaking them outright. He also pointed his handheld at Miya herself, hoping it would act as perhaps a gun or a remote to turn Miya off.

Keima still clung unto the PFP, a testament to his willpower.. and bad luck. Uzume knew it would be soon until..

"AARRGGGGGHGHGHGGHASAFSXFDAS &* #^ #*!"

And as expected by the older tenant of Izumo Inn, there was the complete, utter meltdown of the kid's brain.

Just outside Miya's range of effect, cowering behind a wall, Uzume clapped her hands together in a silent prayer for the poor lad, practically shaking in a cold sweat because of she was haunted on how Keima was able to verbalize characters at the end of his long scream. Musubi, however, pumped her arms in excitement, delighted in the prospect of a potential sparring buddy. Indeed, it had been far too long since she had been in a fight that she had wanted to participate in.

"Wow, Keima was right- She is pretty interesting!"

The night went on in Izumo Inn.

=================== Save? ===================

**Notes:**

**Heya.**

**Long chapter compared to the first, huh? Double the words, and at least a few pages longer. Hopefully that didn't turn you off. Then again, perhaps the length of this chapter is to make up for the long pause in updates. Hmm.**

**So much to say, still too little space. To be honest, I'm surprised that I even got a second chapter up, but rest assured, I'll work and work on this until I announce that it's on hold. As the chapter indicates, it's mostly just about setting up interactions with the cast of Sekirei (and one extra!) I've written it so compared to Minato, all of Keima's dealings with the inhabitants of Izumo Inn are pretty.. different, if Kagari is anything to go by. That's what I love about fanfiction, the ability to showcase new faucets of a character's personality you know by putting them in new situations.**

**Anyway. Don't want to take up too much space, so I'll end this chapter by saying the plot (or rather, the circular cycle of "Find Sekirei, Shenanigans, Capture Sekirei") will kick off next time.**

**Thanks for reading (and for any potential reviews/criticism.)**

**EDIT: Speeling mistakes (Or rather, one obvious one fixed. Thanks to Mzr90 for that.)**


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